Random Pictures

It's been a while since I've posted random pictures of my world.  I have a few new fun ones that I thought I'd like to share with you!  As part of my quest to keep my friendships up, I got together with a group of friends - we were all Girl Scout Moms together - and we went to a Bag Bingo to support our high school chapter of the Future Farmers of America.  (FFA)  I usually go to these things with the full expectation that I will never win anything, but that it is a great way to spend a fun filled evening with friends and catch up.  I know that the money I spend is going to support the group that is running the Bingo, and to me, that is a fair exchange.  Imagine my surprise when I actually won something!  I got this writing kit - with a pen, a journal, and a bag.  I do believe that writing every single day is important, and I am thrilled to have a journal to write down the things that I might not write about on the blog!  Some stuff that I write or think really doesn't belong on the internet for everyone to see!

Our leaves are coming down at a really quick pace.  The crunch, crunch, crunch of leaves underfoot is my favorite part of fall!  I really enjoy raking them all into piles and jumping in them!  Crunch, crunch, crunch!  First comes the gorgeous color while the leaves are still on the trees, and then comes the fun of playing in the leaves after they fall!  It's a win win for everyone!  I'm even crazy enough that I enjoy raking the leaves.  It's a pretty awesome whole-body workout that's fun to do.  I only wish shoveling snow was as fun as raking leaves!

These are dragon fruits.  Have you ever had one?  I love their look - so wild and crazy, but I can't bring myself to actually buy one and cut into it to see what it tastes like.  If you take a whimsical look at the fruit, you can see the tail sticking out of one end, and the head on the other.  I like to think the green leaves sticking up look like dragon scales.  We were at Wegman's when we took these pictures.  I'm not sure what the prickly ball things below are.  That's one very enjoyable thing about walking through the produce section at Wegmans - you've got the expected fruits and vegetables, and then you've got the really fun ones, too.  The next picture below this one was also from Wegmans.  I love their marketing.  This display was set up by the cheese section,

Princess Luna is really, really missing her girl.  She's been cuddling up on my lap and sleeping a lot.  I think she's just adorable when she curls up like this!

The tree across the street from me in its full, glorious autumn splendor.  Good golly, how I love this tree!  Believe it or not, I did not run this picture through the filters.  This is how the tree looks in the fall.  I think because it was a cloudy day the colors really stand out more.

Finally, a picture of the library where I work.  It's a very small, highly specialized library, and it's full of character and characters.  I love this time of the morning - while it's absolutely silent before the students arrive.

Frugal Friday

This has been a stellar week.  I discovered a Pennsylvania Dutch Farmer's Market down the road from where I work.  The prices were phenomenal, but my BIG FIND of the day was the bulk foods store within the market.  Next time I go back, I'll be better prepared with a list of the spices I need.

Pennsylvania Dutch Farmer's Market:   $7

3 cloves of garlic, 3 red beets, a huge box of ginger, a bag of spinach, and a bag of sweet peppers.
I refilled our ginger jar with this box.  It was a perfect fit!

Cook Once, Eat Twice

This is a nifty little strategy where you cook one big meal or roast one night, and then use those ingredients to make meals on other nights.

This past week, we roasted a chicken and made a big pot of vegetable soup.

From this combination we made:

1) Chicken Pot Pie with left over chicken and the rest of the vegetable soup.

2) Spinach chicken salad with leftover chicken and the spinach from the Pennsylvania Dutch Market.

3) Chicken Broth with the bones of the carcass.  Several hours in the soup pot later, and I had a batch of chicken broth that I turned into broth cubes to use later in recipes.


Laundry

Now that the weather is cooler, it's taking longer for the laundry to dry on the line outside.  Regardless, I'm still drying clothes outside.  I put the wash through at night, after the rates drop, just before I go to bed.  This week, I've been running the laundry outside in the dark.  I have the clothes on hangars, and I've been taking them out and hanging them up by flashlight.  It takes me a good 10 minutes to do, but that spot gets some fantastic morning sun.  Since it's fall and the sun has shifted, it's not getting that afternoon sun that REALLY gets the clothes dry fast.


Snacks

Hands down, one of my favorite snacks is Cranberry Walnut Power Balls.  I found the original recipe here on Common Sense Homesteading.  I've modified it a little bit for my own taste.  I don't like walnuts, so I use chopped pecans instead.  Another problem is that I can never find mini chocolate chips.  So, I use the soy free, dairy free chocolate chips so that the girl can eat some, too.  You know I use gluten free oats in the recipe.




Spice Mixes

We are out of taco seasoning mix.  Rather than buy one of those expensive little envelopes that have some questionable ingredients, I make my own.  I follow this recipe that I found here on All Recipes.  I use an old spice bottle to hold the spices in.  A full bottle usually keeps us in spices for 6 months.


Salad Dressing

I'm thick into the middle of a diet, and that means lots and lots of salads.  Unfortunately, I love salad dressings.  They are expensive and full of additives that I really don't need.  I found a great recipe on All Recipes for Italian Dressing.  I really like this recipe, as I mix up a large quantity of dried herbs and store them in my cabinet until I'm ready to use them.  When I need some dressing, I mix a couple of teaspoons of the spice mix into vinegar, olive oil, and water and shake it well before serving.  (I especially like the fact that I can keep the sugar in, use a sugar substitute, or use absolutely no sugar at all - it's MY choice!)

Thanksgiving

With Thanksgiving fast approaching, I am into my "acquire turkeys" mode.  Our grocery stores run a promotion that allows you to get a turkey for free if you've accumulated a certain amount of grocery points.  We're working towards our first free turkey.  I like to see if I can track down at least 3 turkeys to cook with over the course of the year.  Good thing we have a big freezer!

Halloween Candy

my favorite candy bar.

Note: This post contains affiliate links.

What is your favorite Halloween candy?  Let's be honest, even though we're adults, we all have our favorite Halloween Candy, and we tend to buy that on Halloween, just "in case" we don't give it all out, then we won't mind taking care of it.


When I was a kid back in the 70's, the variety of candy that was handed out was vastly different than it is today.  Red Hots, Good and Plenty, Mike and Ike, Tootsie Pops, and Hundred Thousand Dollar Bars populated our bags, in addition to McDonald's Trick or Treat Prizes and homemade popcorn balls and caramel apples  (Remember, this was a more innocent era.  Popcorn balls were still handed out, but I remember when and why we had to stop giving out homemade goodies for Halloween.)  When Dad was stationed in Ohio, our next door neighbors still made caramel apples with crushed peanuts - but she brought them around to the kids - and handed it off to the parents - during the afternoon of Halloween, so we would know who it came from.

My favorite Halloween candy back then was the little fun size Krackle bars.  In our family, nobody liked the Special Dark bars, and Dad used to hoard those.

When my own kids were little, during the 90's and early 00's the nature of Halloween Candies had changed.  More candy was chocolate based, and more people handed out coupons for free fries or other treats from the fast food restaurants in town.  The people in our neighborhood added a twist, and we'd get toothbrushes and toothpaste samples from the dentist, and passes to the gym from the personal trainer.  We gave out our own packs of non-candy treats.

A vivid memory I have is of my kids, all sitting on the living room floor and sorting their candy.  Our daughter traded away all of her chocolate, but she was a shrewd negotiator.  She ended up with the pencils, crayons, bubbles, and candy necklaces that her brothers scoffed at.

What we're giving our for Halloween this year!  Image: Amazon.

Even though I tend not to hand out candy, that doesn't mean our house isn't full of candy this time of year.  I have a jar full of candy corn that I snack on occasionally.  I also have my favorite candies: fun size Snickers bars and full size Dark Chocolate Coconut bars.  (think Mounds bars, but with the yummy twist of Dark Chocolate.)  And I wonder why I need to lose weight?

I usually pick up 2 bags of the fun size candy bars.  Why?  Because I like to bake Christmas cookies with them....

I'd really like to conduct a very unscientific poll right now.  Among the people who read this blog, WHAT is your favorite Halloween Candy?  Please put a note in the comments.  I'm really, really curious!

Things Only Military Brats Understand

For those of us who grew up in the military!   Many truths in here!  And the immediate bond with other brats is something that never goes away - not even when we're adults.  Years later, it's still an instantly uniting experience!

NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month-
is coming up in November.  The challenge is to write a 50,000 novel during the month of November.  You can join the fun by going to the NaNoWriMo website and signing up.  When you join the community, you are getting together with a large group of people who all are promising to sit down and write a book during the month of November.  You keep track of your word count daily, until you finish your book.

This year, I am planning on writing down the stories from when I was teaching and subbing.  I have a store house of stories, and I'd like to write them down before I forget them all.  I worked in 2 very different settings - inner city schools before my kids were born, and then rural schools - in the system where we now live - a few years ago.  Their stories are poignant, funny, and heartbreaking, and need to be told.

What about you?  I'm sure you have a story to tell.

Get ready, get set......

Book Review- The Cat Who Books by Lillian Jackson Braun

Image: Amazon

This post contains affiliate links. All purchases made through this link support this blog, and will be added to the Remodel the Hallway Bathroom fund.

Have you ever read "The Cat Who Books?"  These sweetly wonderful little mysteries were written by Lillian Jackson Braun.  She wrote the first 3 in the 1960's - at the same time she was a career woman, working for a Midwestern Newspaper.  Publishers were not thrilled with her books at the time, because they did not feature enough sex and violence for the prevailing cultural climate.

In the 1980's, she decided to revisit The Cat Who books, and see if maybe there was a demand.. and thus began a sweetly wonderful set of mystery books.

The first three books were set in an urban area in an undisclosed Mid-Western City.  The hero of the story, Jim Qwilleran, was a down on his luck newspaper reporter who was trying to find a new lease on life.  His luck begins to change with his association with the intelligent Koko, and later with the adoption of sweet little YumYum - both Siamese Cats who were adopted under tragic circumstances.

Image: Amazon

In the second iteration of the books, Qwill has inherited the Klingenshoen Fortune.  The fortune came to him with one stipulation, that he live in Moose County - located 500 miles north of everywhere.
The adventures that follow him in Moose County are whimsical - as only small town life can be - and filled with mysteries as he unravels the various tragedies and travesties that seem to follow him into his new life.

Familiar faces make repeat appearances in the books, and become welcome characters that you enjoy watching grow and change over the course of the books.  Lori Bamba- cat whisperer extraordinaire, and her husband Nick figure throughout all the books.  Arch Riker follows Qwill from the urban hell down below and becomes a prominent player in Qwill's life in the North Country.  With each of the cast of characters making repeated appearances in the books, you find yourself coming home to a wonderful place in time each time you open a book.

I always find that a part of me yearns to find Moose County and move there myself.  Of course, I live in my own variation of Moose County - a rural community in Maryland - and we do have our own unique cast of characters that inhabit our daily lives and routines.  I think we all have that cast of characters, but I think they stand out more in small towns than they do in large urban areas.

Braun passed away in 2011 at the age of 97.  (Think about that - 97!)
She wrote 29 Cat Who books.  She worked for the Detroit Free Press for much of her life - and her love of newspapering shows through in her portrayal of Qwill's character.

Western Maryland Scenic Railway

We took a train ride on the Scenic Western Maryland Railroad from Cumberland to Frostburg.  Just enough leaves were off of the trees that we were able to see down into the valleys below.  BUT, there was still lots of beautiful color on the trees on the mountains to make the trip memorable!  Even though I still can't walk on uneven ground, I found a way to get out into the woods and see fall!

Gorgeous views over the mountains!

The trains in Cumberland.  From the looks of things, the engines had pulled onto the siding and were waiting for another train to pass.

Leaves! Glorious leaves!

In front of the Cumberland Train Station.

A view over to the next mountain.

The Frostburg train station.

Our beautiful old diesel engine.

The turn table for the engine.

The playground in front of the Cumberland Train Station.

A New Wal-Mart Comes to Town

Wal-Mart moved across town to a new building in our little Burg.  It opened earlier this week, and it's a brand new Super Center.  It's part of a larger shopping center.  Someone did the math yesterday, and discovered that the interior of the store covers a little over 4 acres.  Think about that for a minute.  4 acres of crap.  The  place is absolutely enormous.

To be fair, the location used to be an indoor, enclosed mall, but the mall failed about 15 years ago, and the property has been sitting vacant, slowly falling into disrepair over time, and had become a hotbed for drugs and other illicit activities.  The entire property was bought and razed to the ground last year.  We're getting a slew of new stores.  While I may not be thrilled about the heavier traffic, I am excited to see the jobs coming to town and the economic impact this will have.  For years now, jobs have been scarce.  Hopefully, this will drive some kind of economic change.  At the very least, this store is a regional draw, as it's right next to the line for 2 adjoining counties, so the added tax dollars will definitely help our county budget.

On the day of the grand opening, the store was packed with people.  I had to go join the throngs, of course, because I'm a nosy person who really does like to know what's going on.  So, even though you didn't ask, I am going to share some pictures of our new Wal-Mart!

(Write this up as Big Happenings in a small town!  Remember how excited I was when Chik-Fil-A opened 3 years ago?)

The Storm Troopers are keeping a watchful eye on proceedings.

I really enjoy the R2-D2 made of Pepsi cases!

This store brings the addition of groceries to our Wal-Mart.  The produce looks so pretty!

Gluten Heaven, right next to the bakery.

Just in case if you couldn't find the bread in the bakery, there's another aisle of bread.

Electronics and books.  This is huge.

I've never seen these before.  I picked up a bag of the Chipotle veggies. Mnimally processed, they were really, really good.  Just toss them in a hot skillet and heat.

The view, straight across the store from a meat case to automotive.

Dairy, Dairy, and more Dairy.  I didn't know there was this much cheese.

I will stop here some - the store is directly in my path home from work.  They have a large gluten free section that will keep me coming back.  However, I'll still buy my books from the independently owned bookstore down the street.  Ditto jewelry and watches and other little gizmos.  My tires and car repair needs will still be taken care of by a locally owned and operated garage. And I'll continue to get produce and meat from the butcher shops and farm stands that proliferate our area.

Big corporate super centers are nice and convenient, but I am going to continue to support our locally owned and operated small businesses as much as possible.  After all, small businesses are the heart of our economy.

Oh the Horrors!

I had to share this!  Having raised 2 mathematicians, and 1 child who hates math - this kind of sums up our family life!

Source:  Facebook; Vintage Books and Anchor Books.

Back To The Future’s Michael J Fox & Christopher Lloyd Crash Jimmy Kimm...

In honor of Back to the Future Day Wednesday. 

Frugal Friday

I've decided that once a week, I'm going to highlight our frugal accomplishments for the week.  It's funny/weird - when you're empty nesters it's actually MORE of a challenge to be frugal than it was before.  It's just the two of you, and the temptation is there to go out and do the things you didn't do when the kids were home.  Cooking is a very big challenge, too.  I'm used to cooking for 5 people.  2 of those people were growing teenage boys.  Cooking now, without having leftovers that go bad before we can finish them is a challenge.  Even worse is cooking too much and finding yourself with chili every night for 2 weeks.  Gotta shift my paradigm a little bit here.

Lawn Mower- Husband ended up having to make one last pass over the yard last week because of all the rain we had at the beginning of the month.   After he finished, he hosed down the mower and let it dry in the sun for a few hours.  He then parked it in the shed, and removed the battery and spark plug and brought them down to the basement to overwinter.

Chili-  It turns out that I make a huge pot of chili.  I'm used to making it in quantities to feed 5 and have leftovers for at least one meal.  So, at least 12 servings of chili for the 2 of us. So, I thought I'd freeze it.  Reality check here:  I froze chili in one gallon freezer bags before.  That's STILL more than the 2 of us can eat in one sitting, and I don't want to throw anything out.  So, I used one quart freezer bags.  When the kids are home, I'll have to pull more than one bag to feed all of us, but in the meantime, we have a very decently portioned out meal we can thaw in the refrigerator and have ready to go by dinner time.

Caulking the Windows- Husband does this every fall.  The fact that we live in a rancher makes this easier!  He went around all of the windows and doors, and caulked each one.  This will help cut down on heat loss out and cold air seeping in during the winter.

Shopping- Our Wal-Mart moved to a new store this week.  In the days before they closed, they were clearancing out stuff that they didn't want to move over to the new store.  I picked up several fat quarters of fabric for my next quilt.  Total Cost:

Chimney Sweep- Joe, our chimney sweep, came out this week and cleaned out the fireplace and chimney for us.  We use wood to help heat our house during the winter.  Creosote builds up in the chimney when you burn wood, and that creosote can catch fire and burn your house to the ground.  It costs us less than $100 to have our chimney cleaned every year.  The knowledge that our house will not catch fire and burn to the ground because of a chimney fire?  Priceless.

E-Bates-
We are going up to visit oldest son at college in two weeks.  I made the reservation through E-Bates.  By going through E-Bates, I'll receive a small percentage of our purchase price back.  Every little bit helps!

Groceries-
I saw a woman at the grocery store this week who put me to shame.  She should be writing her own blog.  She had a huge cart full of groceries, and a $100 gift card that she had gotten for her birthday from her mother.  She had filled her cart - and I mean overloaded it- with stuff.  Canned food.  Meat.  Fresh Vegetables, frozen vegetables.  Pasta.  The list went on and on.  After they rang everything through, she handed them her coupons.  And then the gift card.  The final total she paid out of pocket for her cartload full of groceries?  $15.


Car-
We checked the air pressure in the tires of both cars.  By having the tires fully inflated, we increase our gas mileage and save a little bit on gas.  Those little bits add up over the course of the year!

Book Review: Brain Maker

Fascinating look at the impact our gut has on our health.  Medical Science is now beginning to refer to our gut as our "second brain".   The microbiome that we have in our large and small intestine impacts our body's ability to fight infection and remain healthy.  The health of our microbiome also has a direct impact upon inflammation in our body.  Many chronic diseases begin with chronic inflammation.

Perhaps what struck me the most about this book is the author's claims about the effects of inflammation and your gut health on Alzheimer's Disease.  I'm not claiming one way or another that what he says is true- research is beginning to come in that supports some of these claims.  Having a healthy microbiome and eating correctly is not as sexy as a popping a pill - the long term effects could be worth the time and effort of cultivating good gut health now.  What does it hurt to invest in eating right now?  If you never get a chronic disease, you'll never know that it worked.

Seriously, there is a lot of hard science in this book, and it is broken down into terms that a lay person can easily understand.  And a deep hard look at how the typical American Diet is killing us.  We also get a look at what steps we can immediately take to counteract the effects.

I've seen research coming out about gut health and the effects our gut health has on all of our other body systems.  We have been ignoring this side of our overall health for far too long, with devastating effects on our health.  If you're looking for a fascinating read with enormous potential impact upon our health, this book is for you!

Allergy Free Treats

This is a re-post from last year. Please consider participating if you can!

 My daughter and husband have pretty serious food allergies to milk and chocolate.  For this reason, I've always given out allergy free treats for Halloween.  (Non-Food treats)

source: http://preview.tinyurl.com/p4t8gcs

Our house has always been the "interesting" house.  While I never went so far as to hand out toothbrushes and toothpaste, (I left that to the dentist who lived next door), or free passes to the gym (The personal trainer down the street), I have always handed out something a little bit different.

I would hit up the Back to School sales and put together a bundle of stuff for kids. Anything I had left over at the end of the night was always donated to our local homeless shelter the following weekend.

You must understand - I begin searching for these goodies the day after Halloween.  I have my storage boxes of Halloween stuff in the basement.  As I find goodies on sale, I pick them up and add them to the box.  I usually hand out pencils.  Sometimes, if I find an amazing deal on crayons or funky pens or those little packs of play dough, I'll hand those out.  I've found cute little erasers that I've held onto for an entire year. They were big and chunky, and they had some fun shapes to them.  Another year, we had a stash of books from cereal boxes that I handed out.  (The older kids who roamed through got the pencils, pens, and erasers that year.)

Use your imagination.  Kids enjoy candy, I know.  BUT, other treats are also fun to find in the trick or treat bags.  A few years back, one of our neighbors gave out packets of pumpkin seeds!

In our community, we get candy overload.  Almost every church holds a Harvest Festival or Trunk or Treating.  The high school's homecoming game and parade are held on Halloween.  The kids on the floats throw candy to the little kids, and then the little kids go Trick or Treating.  So much candy!

In light of the number of food allergies that are out there, Food Allergy Research and Education, FARE for short, has been asking for a new tradition to begin.  An allergy free tradition.  http://www.foodallergy.org/teal-pumpkin-project#.VFDmbRYT1OI

If you are handing out allergy free treats, paint a pumpkin teal and place it out in front of your house, along with a free FARE printable sign so that parents and children know that you have allergy free treats to hand out.

What a great way to keep Halloween fun for everyone!


*The teal pumpkin picture above was taken from this post on the Michigan Radio website: http://michiganradio.org/post/kids-food-allergies-will-be-looking-teal-pumpkins-halloween.
The Tiny URL above will take you directly to their website, but I wanted to make certain that I gave them full credit! 

Vera Williams

Vera Williams, prolific children's author died on Oct. 16 at the age of 88.  

Image: Publisher's Weekly

She was a well-known author and illustrator who wrote and illustrated many children's books, including "A Chair for My Mother",  "More, More, More Said the Baby!",  "Lucky Song",  "Amber Was Brave", and "A Chair for Always".

She has one final book, which will be published posthumously: Home At Last.  While she wrote the manuscript, she didn't feel that she could adequately illustrate the book.  Chris Raschka is the illustrator of the book, and it will be published next year.

You can see her full obituary from Publisher's Weekly here.

Getting the Cars Ready for Winter

The days are getting shorter and colder.  Parts of the United States saw snow over the weekend.  That was our reminder that we needed to get our cars ready for the winter.

We always get the oil in our cars changed every 3,000 miles.  It's how our Civic has lasted 14 years and well over 200,000 miles.  We had the oil changed in both cars just last week.

This is what we do to get our cars ready for the winter:

1) Make sure the windshield washer fluid is topped off.  We buy an extra gallon and keep it in the garage so we can add more on warmer days through the winter.

2) Replace the windshield wipers.

3) Check to make certain the jumper cables are accessible.

4) Add the collapsible snow shovel.  I tend to take this out of the trunk in the spring, because it gets in my way.  Husband leaves it in year round.

5) Change the batteries in the flashlight.

6) Add a bag of kitty gravel.  (Non-clumping).  We use this for traction in case if we get stuck in the snow.  It's happened more than once before, and that bag of litter has made a big difference in getting out.  I've seen other people use carpet remnants or gravel.  We use kitty litter.  I'm not certain, but I like to think it's easier on the environment.

7) Find wherever the ice scrapers have migrated to and move them into the pockets on the driver's side door.  Oh yeah, and clear out all of the affiliated junk in that pocket.

8) Clean out all of the loose stuff in the car, and vacuum it.  (Just because)

9) Check the tire pressure.

10) Check to make sure all of the bulbs are working - headlights, tail lights, and turn signals.  Replace as needed.  Really don't want a ticket for something we could have easily fixed for less than $5.

11) Add a blanket, and a seasonal change of clothes to the trunk.  I actually keep a suitcase in the trunk of the car year round, in case if something happens and I have to stay overnight somewhere unexpectedly.  For winter, this change includes underwear, socks, shoes, a long sleeved shirt and a sweatshirt.  (Remember, I used to teach.  You never knew what was going to happen in the course of a day, so having a change of clothing with you was always a good idea just in case.)  BTW, I also carry a large plastic bag to put a dirty change of clothing in.

12) Check the food and water supplies.  I have a big plastic box in the trunk that holds water bottles and snacks.  I can't tell you how many times I've hit up those supplies over the years.  Hungry kids, hungry me, running late, whatever the reason, I've always got fairly healthy snacks that won't melt in the trunk of my car.  If I do get stranded on a road in a snowstorm, or I am running late and starved, knowing I've got something to nosh on until I can get home and get real food is a nice feeling.

Have you gotten your car ready for winter?

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Trailer (Official)

It's coming and I can't wait!  I've even bought my tickets.  I was 10 when the original Star Wars was released, and I had to WAIT a month until it came to our town because my parents refused to take me into Dayton to go see it earlier in the run!  And then, I had to stand in line - a long, long, long line to see it.  It was the only movie the double screen theater was showing, but the demand was huge. (First World Problems, I know.)

I'm going to have to pull out my Star Wars outfit for the movie release, too. 

So, what about you?  Are you counting down the days, too?

Clean Up Buckets

If you've been following my blog for any length of time, you know that I have a passion for the missions, and most especially for the United Methodist Committee on Relief. (UMCOR) Of all the many charities out there, UMCOR is one of the few that can claim to be at the site of a disaster as soon as something happens, and that they will stay until the mess is cleaned up.  UMCOR missions are many, their outreach is huge, and their impact is great.  They reach out to all people, regardless of faith, and make a difference in the world.

In response to the recent flooding in South Carolina, UMCOR sent out clean up buckets to the people living in homes affected by flooding.  While these buckets might not seem like a lot, they will help someone begin the process of cleaning up their homes and getting their lives back together.

What kinds of things are in a clean up bucket?  A clothesline and clothespins.  Dish detergent, laundry detergent, trash bags, sponges, scrub brushes, multi-purpose cleaner, and a pair of heavy duty work gloves.

You can see the complete list here.

Back in July, our church made the decision to collect flood buckets this fall, and deliver them to the closest depot at the end of October, beginning of November.  The depots hold the buckets in storage until they are needed.  The empty shelves will need to be filled once again.  Who fills the buckets?  Volunteers like you and me. They are collected by local churches, or shipped by individuals to local depots around the country.

I finished putting our bucket together this week.

Here is some of the stuff that will go into the bucket:

And here is a view of the stuff going into the bucket, from the top:

My bucket is one of many.  I am curious how many we will end up collecting. (I am one of the co-chairs of this effort.) The last time we collected buckets, in the wake of Super Storm Sandy, we collected 50 buckets.  I am hoping we collect at least that many this time.

One very easy, tangible way to help others in need!

Book Review: Bear in the Back Seat: Adventures of a Wildlife Ranger in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Picture: Amazon

Note: this post contains affiliate links.

Imagine what it's like to work in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Can you picture what it's like to work with the animals, the tourists, and working to maintain the balance that is required to keep the animals and people safe?

Kim Delozier reflects upon his 30 years of service to the NPS in this wonderful romp down memory lane.  Kim worked with the wildlife, and the love that he has for the park, for his job, and mostly for the bears in the park come through on every single page.

The Smokies are my favorite National Park, and we have been there many times.  We have been to talks given by Kim back when he was a ranger working at headquarters.  (As opposed to out in the field, where the real action is going on.)  I had never stopped to think about the wildlife management aspect of working in the park.  Kim brings the very real struggles that park rangers have, maintaining the safety of the animals when millions of tourists are walking obliviously next to them, and many tourists are unwittingly endangering the lives of these bears with their actions.

Did you know, Garbage Kills Bears?  Through our own idiocy and lack of attention to details, we humans have taught bears that they can come to humans, or raid their trash cans for food.  Once bears learn not to fear humans, and learn that humans are a source of food, they become a danger to themselves and to humans.  While reminiscing about the highlights of his time working in the Smokies, he continuously comes back to how much he loves the black bears, and what we can do to protect them and keep them safe.

A note here: this book reminds me in many ways of the All Creatures...  books written by James Herriott. 

Book Review: Out on a Limb: A Smoky Mountain Mystery

image: amazon

I must admit, I wasn't expecting this book to be a heart pounding page turner.  I wasn't expecting to read through the night to finish this.  I certainly wasn't expecting to fall in love with a brand new to me author, and to begin the hunt to find all of the other books that she has written.  Having said that, let me actually do a professional book review!

Ivy Iverson loves her job.  She is a graduate student at the University of Tennessee, and she loves to climb trees.  Not just any trees, she loves to find the tallest and oldest trees and climb them as high as possible.

Phoebe McFarland is a nurse who grew up in the Smoky Mountains and went away after going to college.  After a successful career in the big city, Phoebe decides to return home and provide skilled medical care for the people in the community where she grew up.

While climbing one of the tallest trees in the Great Smoky Mountains, Ivy is attacked and left for dead - hanging hundreds of feet above the ground.

Phoebe's life unexpectedly intersects with Ivy's when a mysterious purple backpack is found in Cade's Cove.  While Phoebe and her friend Ranger Henry attempt to track down the owner of the backpack, they begin to fear that her very life is in danger.  The more they delve into the circumstances surrounding the owner of the backpack, the more they begin to fear for her life.

What exactly was Ivy researching while high up in the trees?  Had she found something that somebody was willing to kill for in order to claim?  Or was she merely the victim of professional rivalry?  Can Phoebe and Ranger Henry find the answer before more people are killed?

In this twisty mystery, you will find yourself in the beautiful Smoky Mountains, and enjoy meeting the quirky characters who populated the area since long before the park existed.  You will be drawn into a mystery that involves modern day issues surrounding bio-flora, research, academia, and ownership of discoveries in our National Parks.

Subbing in Kindergarten

I originally published this post in my now defunct blog, "A Mom's View".  Every once in a while, I stumble across something from the years I spent subbing, and it makes me laugh out loud.  This post was one of those memories.  Enjoy!  I must say, I enjoy my job now, but I don't get as many belly laughs as I did when I was subbing!

I've spent the past few days subbing in kindergarten, and have a few stories that I'd like to share:

Recess:
It was 90* here on Monday.  We brought the kids back from PE, and the sweat was dripping off of one little guy.  We had the kids pack up their backpacks to go home and then lined them up to go out for a quick 10 minute recess before it was time to go home.  The little guy who was dripping sweat proceeded to put his hooded sweat shirt on.  "Honey, you don't need your coat outside, it's 90* today.  It's hot."

"Yes I do!  I'm all sweaty and I don't want to catch a chill!"


Math:
We were working on glyphs in Math.  If you've been out of school for a while, you might not remember glyphs.  It's a picture that you color in with coded colors, and it reads like a map.  Our glyph was a duck in a raincoat.  The children were to put three circle buttons on if they were 5 years old, or 3 triangle buttons if they were 6 years old.  They were to color the coat yellow if they like to watch tv on rainy days, or orange if they like to jump in puddles on rainy days.  The hat was supposed to be blue if they were a boy, and red if they were a girl, and the boots were supposed to be colored black if they had a pet at home, or green if they didn't have any pets at all.

I had gotten through the directions on the hat when I looked over at G., and she was coloring the hat yellow. 

"You're supposed to color the hat red since you're a girl." I said.

"No.  I won't."  She replied.

"But those are the directions,"  I stupidly said.  "Color the hat red if you're a girl.  You are a girl, so the hat is supposed to be red."

"No.  You do not wear red hats with yellow rain coats.  You wear yellow hats with yellow rain coats.  And yellow boots.  Would you wear a red hat with a yellow coat to school?  I don't think so...."


Reading:
We were attempting to introduce the kids to ABC order today.  We had sentence strips, and I was to give them four adjacent letters of the alphabet.  (E, F, H, G) and have them place the letters in order.  I covered up all the letters on the sentence strip except those 4 letters, and asked P.:

"Which letter comes first?"

"A"

"No, of these four letters, which one comes first?"

"A always comes first.  Then B, Then C, then D.  E comes fifth."

Love those kids!!

Things to Do Before You Turn 50

Since I turned 50 this year, little gems like this have been appearing in my messages from my children.  I'm taking this in a spirit of fun.  If the kids had anything else in mind, well, I'm going to go ahead and ignore that.

This particular list really struck me on several levels, and I wanted to share it with others.  There are several gems of wisdom in here for anyone, of any age.  The original article appeared here on CBS News. 

1) Be Adventurous: Embark on a New Experience.
I'm not certain that I've actually done this one.  I've gone to graduate school and changed careers, but does that count?  I taught in the inner city schools, in a neighborhood where the most mornings I would see the police cleaning up a crime scene on the playground when I was heading in.  For me, from my very comfortable middle class upbringing, this experience was life changing.  To see how people in our own country live on a daily basis.

Princess Luna

2) Adopt Something.
All of our animals have been adopted.  I LOVE our kitties!

3) Reconnect With a Friend.
This was actually one of my resolutions from this year.  I have gotten back together with old friends and gotten caught up on our lives together. I only have one friend left that I need to get back together with sometime before the end of the year. 

4) Scare Yourself - Take a big chance of some kind. 
Being a parent.  From the moment the first kid was born until now, I have been terrified that I would screw up and totally mess up the lives of these little humans that had been entrusted to me.  I never really felt certain that what I was doing was right, and the sure certainty that one mistake on my part was going to screw them up for life has haunted me for 22 years, 9 months, and 3 weeks now.

5) Realize a Dream.

Owings Mills Library

I went back to Graduate School and earned my Master's in Library Science - a goal I had set for myself when I graduated from college years ago.  I have a job in a library now.  It's not the job I want, but we all have to start somewhere! 

6) Learn Something New.
I've learned a lot of new things, but I've never set out to learn something new in the way it's suggested in the article.  Learning a new language in a new country, taking art classes in Paris.  I think that might be one for the bucket list.  It would definitely be more fun than learning PubMed....

7) Change Your Hair.
In my 40's, I changed my hair style and started coloring it.  My hair was quickly greying, and it was aging me.  I don't feel my age, and I resent people assuming that I'm older than I am, and treating me as a much older person.  The defining moment was when one of daughter's friends asked me if I was her grandmother.  So... new hair style and color.  (I've changed my hair color 3 times since then!  Bwah-hah-hah!) 

8) Keep Your Medical Tests Current.
Yep, I've had them all.  Colonoscopy.  Mammogram.  Dentist.  Blood work.  It's all been done, and it's all been done in the last 6 months.

9) (This one, I'm copying directly from the website)
 
Discover Yourself: Get to know your family as people, not relatives, by writing a letter to your kids (or other family members) telling them the most important things you've learned. And then ask them to write one to you.

I am glad that I got to know my father and his family before they passed.  My Dad and I spent a lot of time getting to know each other as people, and I'm glad we did.  It deepened my understanding of him as a person, and as a result, of me.  As I came to understand him and what drove him and the choices he made, I also found myself understanding some of the forces that drive and shape who I am.

10) Do a Good Deed: Perform a Random Act of Kindness.
This is one I don't believe should be spoken about in detail, but yes.  I will say that last week, someone let me cut in front of them in line at the grocery store because I only had 2 items and she had a full cart.  I have since returned that favor to someone else.