One step forward, two steps back.

Have you ever watched the Property Brothers?  You know, Johnathan and Drew talk some young, starry eyed couple into buying an old broken down home and then they remodel it for them.  We watch Property Brothers a lot, and husband and I not only critique the houses, but we also criticize the choices the young homeowners make.  

You see, we made one of those bad choices ourselves 10 years ago, but we didn't have Jonathan to fix things for us.  We just had the two of us, and the years of experience in home remodeling and renovation that we have picked up volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, Rebuilding Together and Christmas in April.  We were young and dumb.  We thought we had the skill and know how to fix this house up.  We were buying it from our in-laws.  Little did we know that the house was suffering from 30+ years of neglect when we bought it.

Over the years, I've shared stories with you about the ongoing attempts to fix the things that are horrifically wrong with this house.  It's been 10 years of non-stop surprises.  Our friends not so jokingly call this house "The Money Pit".

I thought we were mostly done with the biggest disasters.  As far as I knew, we only had the hallway bathroom left to finish.  I was setting aside money to get someone to come in and fix it over Christmas break this year.  

Sunday morning, we woke up to find a puddle of water on the floor under the kitchen sink.  We cleaned up the puddle and headed off to church.  After church, husband and I cleaned out under the kitchen sink to see if we could figure out where the water was coming from.  We started cringing and shuddering as we pulled out water logged paper towels and boxes covered in black mold.  We pulled the trash can close and shuttled everything directly into the trash bag.  Underneath it all, when we hit the bottom of this cabinet, we found this.  Can you see the damage to the back wall of the cabinet?  Can you tell that the bottom of the cabinet has rotted through?  Yep, Lord have mercy on us, this is going to be an ugly, ugly fix.  

Closer inspection revealed where the leak was occurring.  Just below the sink, where the drain joins the pipe.  You can see the black mold spilling down the side of the pipe.  It's all I can do not to throw up just looking at the picture.  And the damage along the back, next to the wall.  *blech*

That's a dangerous kind of mold, too.  This is going to take some serious work to remediate.  We can't take chances on any more of this getting loose in the house.  

We spent Sunday cleaning out the kitchen - we pulled out everything we are going to need in order to cook for the however many weeks until we get this cleaned out.  We pulled out the dehumidifiers, we pulled out the air filters, and we pulled out the microwave, toaster oven, and crock pots.  The microwave, toaster, and crock pots have now set up shop in the dining room.  We turned the refrigerator so that it is outside of the tarp, and we have access to it through the "other" side of the kitchen.  Everything else has been set up in the kitchen.

Before we even began demolition on this, we had to prep the area.  Tarps were purchased, mold filter face masks, trash bags,bleach, and heavy duty latex gloves were purchased.  The area had to be sealed off, and the ventilation to that part of this house had to be shut off before we even began to deal with the mold removal itself. 

Part of this repair is realizing that we will not have access to the kitchen door.  The one that leads directly out to the carport.  We don't often use the front door, so we went to open the door so that we could make sure we had a key that worked in the doorknob.  If you read yesterday's post, you know where this is going.  We went to open the door and the doorknob fell out in our hands.  That door knob is original to the house - 1970 - and it wasn't going back together again.  So, first things first.  We had to replace the door knob....  (This is beginning to sound a lot like the children's book "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie", isn't it?)   After we replaced the doorknob, I took a good look at the door and realized that I probably should have given the entire thing a coat of paint before we installed the doorknob.  We do have more pressing issues on our mind, though.

Now that we had outdoor access, and a way to secure the house, we were ready to tarp the kitchen off from the rest of the house.  

Until this is finished, we'll have no access to the kitchen sink, the dishwasher, or the stove. Good thing we're a scouting family, or the challenges of eating without access to the stove might very well be an insurmountable problem when working with a budget that is this tight.  We're in for an interesting few weeks of meals!  On the bright side - since we won't be using the stove or the oven, our electricity bills should be lower!

So, you know that time in the Property Brothers where they show the reno budget and show you the prices of everything?  Yeah, that's where we are now...

So, with a $1500 reno budget, can these homeowners fix this mess?

Money spent so far:

Home Depot, 5/29/16  $198

doorknob, 2 mold approved face masks, 1 large (10'  x 25') tarp, reusable latex gloves with extra long cuffs, bleach, tarp tape, small sheet of plywood, propane tank for the grill.

Total to Date: $198

Jonathan and Drew - if you're reading this - 2 not so starry eyed, not so young people looking to fix the house that's been in the same family for 46 years could use some help!

Monday Musings

The ceiling fan in our bedroom is finally installed and running.  One teensy little problem, though.  Even though there are two switched on the wall - one for just the fan, and one for just the light - they do not yet work separately.  No matter which switch you hit, both fan and lights will go on.  You have to stand up on the bed and pull the chain in order to get the light to turn off.  Not exactly what I want to do first thing in the morning or last thing at night.  In the meantime, the lights are off, and the fan is running.  It has made a HUGE difference in the overall temperature of the room.  It's not nearly as stuffy, and it's chilly enough at night that we've been able to turn the thermostat on the a/c up a good 5* higher than we've been keeping it in previous years.  Husband is planning on getting into the fan itself to work on the wiring sometime.

We've had a slew of home repair issues hit us all at once this weekend, so the wiring is going to have to wait for a few weeks.  I've got a big post coming tomorrow about the horrible repair we found yesterday.  I'm writing and taking pictures now.  This repair is a top priority, but it's going to take a month or two in order to do it correctly.  You know, I wonder if home ownership is everything it's cracked up to be?

Right now, husband is replacing the knob on the front door.  The door knob dropped right out of the doorknob hole yesterday.  Granted, this is the front door, and we usually go in and out through the kitchen.  We don't use it for daily access.  So, when we opened the door yesterday, the doorknob fell off in our hands.  We couldn't get it back together again.  So off to Home Depot we went to get a new door knob.  It's a snazzy one, too.  I really like it.   (Believe it or not, this isn't the BIG repair.)

It's been an interesting week at work.  Our little library is staffed by 6 librarians.  3 of them quit this past week.  2 people got some pretty awesome jobs in new places.  (J.T., I am so very, very excited for you!)  1 person just had enough and quit.  So, we're down to half staff for the time being.  I'm switching over to evening hours for the summer.  I'm looking forward to the change of pace, going into work after morning rush hour is finished, and being able to make it to the gym first thing in the morning.  As of now, new hires have not yet been made.  I think we're looking out at least a month before the new people can begin.  Good times, people.  Good times.

As you are enjoying your long weekend today, I hope that you take the time to remember the reason for this day off.  Take some time to remember those who have fallen in battle for our country.

Happy Memorial Day!

Glenwood Library

This gorgeous little library is located in Western Howard County, MD.  Surrounded by farms and farm country, the library blends in with the farms and rolling hills in the area.  The architecture of this building has always reminded me of barns.

The outside of the library, looking at the main entrance.

The view just inside of the front door.  Look at those exposed beams!

The Information desk.

The view out to the back.  I love that large window wall!  That's the YA section in the very back, and a baseball diamond outside!  Just to the left, behind that wall is the Children's Section.

A view from the back right corner along the window wall.

The YA section.

The non-fiction adult section.  A row of computers to the right of me - magazines in front.

Mixed Media - CD's and DVD's.

The Information Desk in the Children's Section.  When this library first opened, the barn like structure in the back was used for story times.  The doors slide open, and contains an intimate space for storytime.

Study/Quiet area in the Children's Section.

The view towards the front doors from just outside of the Children's section.

Bear in a porthole window.

Summer and Random Pictures

Wow, summer arrived with a bang yesterday!  It had been a cold and wet spring for us in the Mid-Atlantic this year, with long bouts of cold, wet, rainy days.  I turned our heaters off in April when we hit our first big warm spell - and kept it off.  We ended up lighting a fire in the fireplace several days as we fought to keep the chill out of the house and as this stubborn frugal girl fought to keep the heaters off.

Yesterday, the heat arrived, and with it came all of the humidity from a months' worth of rain.  Holy cow, it feels like late July or early August right now!

We are having our annual inspection of the a/c system today, and then *fingers crossed* all will be set for the rest of the summer.

In the meantime, I wanted to share some pictures from my garden!

That's one very overgrown garden!  A month of rain will do that!

Peony

Coreopsis

I think this is Salvia - I don't remember and can't get close enough to see my little sign on the ground!

Happy Towel Day!

This post contains Affiliate Links to my Amazon Account.  Purchases made through this link will support this blog.

Douglas Adam's book "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" was a cult classic back in the day.  I adored the book - along with millions of others.  The tale wrapped golden nuggets of truth in a wonderful coating of silly, slightly off kilter events and random stories.


If you're not familiar with the book, Arthur Dent awakens one morning to find that his house has been scheduled for demolition by the highway board.  They sent him notice about the hearings to condemn his house, but the mail was never seen.  His friend Ford arrives on the scene and instead of helping him resolve the situation, he pulls him off to the local bar, gets a couple of shots of alcohol into him and then tells him that the entire earth is scheduled for demolition for the creation of an inter-spatial highway, and that notice has been sitting in a filing room for years and nobody had filed any objections, and today was the day of demolition.

As Arthur attempts to wrap his mind around this news, the giant space bulldozers appear in the sky over England.

Ford has found a solution, though.  It turns out that he is a contributor to the book "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy".  He has traveled across the galaxy hitchhiking through space on various freighters and pleasure craft.  He has "arranged" a ride with one of the arriving space ships.  He and Arthur are whisked away from the planet just before the first push from the space bulldozers.

Arthur is given a tiny little book to help him figure out what in the world has just happened.  It is entitled "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy", and emblazoned on the cover are the very comforting words "Don't Panic".

Does Arthur panic?  Can he adapt?  Where does this wild and madcap adventure take him next?

You really need to read the book and find out!


So, back to the towel...  It's best described in Douglas Adams' own words from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:


A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value -- you can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapours; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a mini raft down the slow heavy river Moth; wet it for use in hand-tohand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or to avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mindboggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you -- daft as a bush, but very ravenous); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough. 

More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitchhiker) discovers that a hitchhiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitchhiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitchhiker might accidentally have "lost". What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is is clearly a man to be reckoned with.


So, my friends.... do you know where your towel is?

Bucket List

So, this version of the Bucket List has been circulating around social media.  I thought I'd play along and share it on here - along with some explanations!  How about you?  Have you done many of these things?

Been Married X
26 years come July!

Fell in love X



Gone on a blind date 
I missed out on this particular experience.  

Skipped school X
As a teacher, and as a student both.  :)
Sometimes, you just need a day off.
 
Watched someone give birth 

Watched someone die X
I was there with my Dad.  Not a terrific experience, but to see peace come over him a few hours before he died, that was something incredible.

Been to Canada 
Stay tuned for this...

Been to Hawaii 

Been to Europe 

Been to Las Vegas 

Been to Washington D.C. X
Many, many times.  I went to high school just outside of DC, and up until a few years ago, I took the kids down at least once a year.

Been to Nashville X
Many, many years ago, I went with my Aunt and Uncle.  I was 8.  I enjoyed the entire experience.  I really want to go back again.  I'm certain things have changed in the 42 years since I've been there!

Visited Florida X
I went when I was in high school with the band.  And I went when I was in college with my singing group.  5 years ago, we went with our mostly grown kids.  It's an interesting experience!  I'm not a fan of the summer heat and humidity in Florida.  We've got heat and humidity in spades around here - and I'm not a fan of it.  It's even more humid and hot in Florida.

Visited Mexico 
Does a trip over the border when you're 5 count?

Seen the Grand Canyon in person 
Soon
 
Flown in a Helicopter 

Been on a cruise 
Hmmm.... A cruise like the Love Boat?  Where you vacation?  NO
A cruise like a scenic cruise past the Norfolk Naval Base?  YES
A cruise like a ferry ride?  YES

Served on a jury 

Been in a movie (music video) 

Been to Los Angeles X
My Dad took me out to Los Angeles after I graduated from high school in 1983.  Haven't been back since. 

Been to New York City X
I went for the first time for my 21st birthday.  I've been back once with each of the kids - the oldest on a band trip.  The middle one for his graduation trip.  The youngest one to look at colleges.

Played in a band (orchestra) X
High school band!  Who-Hoo!  I played flute, and I played bassoon.  I should have put more time and effort into both.  Who knows where I'd be now if I had?

Sang karaoke X
And I was sober each time I did it, too!  I'm really not a bad singer - so as long as I pick a song in my vocal range, all is good.  

Made prank phone calls X
You know, this might very well be a generational thing.  I don't think that this happens in the age of caller ID.  My generation might have been one of the last that will have done this.

Laughed so much you peed your pants X

Caught a snowflake on your tongue X
The first snowstorm of every year, I make a point of going out and catching snowflakes on my tongue.  I don't know why, but it seems like a good thing to do!

Had children X
Three of them!

Had a pet dog X
My husband is afraid of dogs, so we don't have any - but we had several when I was growing up: Orangie, a mixed breed mutt.  Top Hat, a purebred Pekinese that was practically given away since he was the runt of the litter.  Winnie, a Dachshund. Princess - a terrier mix of indeterminate origin that my Mom saved from being dumped on the highway.

Been sledding on big hill X
Virginia Tech Golf Course. 
The Hill by Lake Elkhorn in Columbia.  

Been downhill skiing X
One of the more embarrassing moments of my life.
I'm lucky I didn't break anything.

Been water skiing X
Another one of the most embarrassing moments of my life.
I spent an awful lot of time being pulled THROUGH the water face first.

Rode on a motorcycle X
Dad had a motorcycle for a few years.  I enjoyed our rides together!

Jumped out of a plane 

Been to a drive-in movie X
Another item that might very well be a generational thing.  The last time I went to a drive in was before we had kids.  I think husband and I need to try to track one down this summer.

Rode an elephant X
At the zoo, when I was a little girl.

Been on TV X
Recently, too.  As part of the school's robotics team triumphal win of a major award!

Been in newspaper X
Only for good things! Winning a volunteer award, speaking about my Girl Scouts, or about an outreach project at my church.

Stayed in Hospital X
When my kids were born.

Donated blood 

Gotten a piercing X
My ears are pierced!

Gotten a tattoo 

Driven a stick shift vehicle X
I learned how to drive in a stick shift, my first car was a stick, and our Accord was a stick.  

Driven over 100 mph


Been scuba diving 

Lived on your own X

Rode in the back of police car X
We'd been in an accident and our car was totaled.  The very nice officer drove us home in the back of his car.  It was a little weird when I realized there were no door handles in the back!  Not an experience I want to repeat, but so very glad the officer drove us home and we didn't have to wait for a taxi to come and find us in the middle of the night.

Got a speeding ticket 
*knock on wood* not yet. 

Frugal Friday

There's nothing more frugal than growing your own, is there?  One of my goals for the year was to get my vegetable garden back up and running.  Unfortunately, with the ground as cold and wet as it has been this spring, I haven't been able to get anything into the ground.  (We actually had frost Tuesday morning - two weeks AFTER the last frost date for our area.)   So, enter my Pot Garden!  I have planted the herbs I rely on most heavily in my kitchen in here.  Thyme, Oregano, Dill, Rosemary, Cilantro, Basil, and Chives are planted in the big pot.  Not only can I use the herbs from the pot throughout the summer, I can pick and dry herbs and save them for use during the rest of the year.  In the little pot next to the big one, we've got some Lavender growing.  We like to pick the buds and make tea with it, and dry it to make sachets to put in with our clothes to make them smell better than any dryer sheet ever could.  Off to the left of the pot you can see my Black Eyed Susans - they are literally growing like weeds - and off to the right, you can see the weeds.  Technically, they're violets, and I love the pretty purple flowers they produce, so I don't pull them.  They're "ambiance".

The kids are all home for a few days before the scatter to the winds again.  We went down to my Mom's house yesterday, and had a wild and raucous time with my nieces.

The ceiling fan in the Master Bedroom is now installed and working - just in time for the summer heat to settle in.  I really, really hope it helps keep the room cool!  The fan in the living room makes a huge difference in the livability of that room with the thermostat set higher.  Hopefully, this will have just as big of an impact in the Master Bedroom, and eventually will impact the bottom line on our electric bills!

This little mouse cookie appeared at lunch recently.

I made a gigantic pot of pinto beans this week.  We had pinto beans with cornbread for dinner that night.  The next day, I mashed them down a bit, and then made a lot of burritos and enchiladas and froze them.  The burritos were made with gluten full tortillas and then wrapped individually in waxed paper and saved for later.  The enchiladas I wrapped up in corn tortillas and packed them up in packs of two with enchilada sauce.  These are intended for my lunch for work.  I had hoped to pack them with arroz, but every time I make a huge batch of arroz, everyone ends up eating it all.  What can you do?  Honestly, I'm glad they like my cooking enough to eat it!

We are planning on having a cook out with the kids Sunday afternoon.  We have some dead fall around the yard that needs to be taken care of, so we're going to burn it down in the fire pit and roast marshmallows.  At least, that's the plan.  It's been so wet that I'm not certain the wood will actually burn.  We might end up roasting our marshmallows over the gas grill by the time all is said and done!

On Being a Cookie Mom

I was roaming through old posts this morning when I found this wonderful reminder of life the way it was!  It was originally published on Sept. 18, 2013.

I've been a Girl Scout Cookie mom on and off over the last ten years. 

Ten years ago, I was a new arrival in this town, and I had been talked into the job of cookie mom by my daughter's girl scout leader.  I didn't know many people here, but I did think this would be a great way to meet some new people.

I wasn't really sure what the job entailed, but I was reassured that I would be able to attend training for new cookie moms.

When I showed up at the training session, all of the seats were taken.  I found a spot on the floor, pulled out a notebook and began taking notes.

Ten minutes into the meeting, I felt a little tickle on my foot and looked down to see that a mouse had climbed up onto my shoe and had his front paws on my knee.  He was looking up at me with very bright, curious eyes.

The next thing I knew, I was being helped down off the top of the table.

I'm not sure whatever happened to the mouse, but thanks to that mouse, I did meet many new people that night!

The Importance of Play

My BS is in Early Childhood Education.  I spent years teaching in Early Childhood Ed - grades 1-3, preschool, and I subbed in K-2 classrooms for years.  I adore the age group, and the enthusiasm and energy that these little kids have for learning and for love.

Children learn best through play.  Let me repeat this for you - Children learn best through play.

Not rote memorization.  Not structured learning "games".  PLAY.  Watch a young child in a sandbox with some sand toy that has wheels and gizmos, and check out the concentration involved as they workout how the sand falls to the ground and how the wheels turn.  Give them enough gizmos and toys to work with in the sandbox, and they will figure out how everything from gravity to gears work.

When I was searching for preschools for my own children, I remember searching for schools that had a play based curriculum.  I was more interested in them learning how to work and play well with others, and being given free time to explore age appropriate toys than I was with them learning how to read.  I made them play for an hour when they came home from school, and I limited the amount of screen time they had.  No more than 2 hours of television a day - and some days, we didn't even watch that much.  I don't know how well my theories played out, but my kids are well adjusted, one is in graduate school, and two are in college.  All received academic scholarships, and none of them were reading Harry Potter while still in kindergarten. 

Sadly, we have been moving away from play in our classrooms.  The trend has been towards forcing children to learn the alphabet and pushing them to read at younger and younger ages.  The last year that I worked as a substitute teacher, which was 2 years ago - things had changed drastically.  I subbed in a kindergarten classroom the second week of school, and the teacher told me how worried she was for the kids.  They were to know all 26 letters of the alphabet - upper and lower case, all the colors, all the shapes, and all the numbers through 20 - before the end of September.  Now most kids are ready for this, but not all.  They were supposed to have their first hundred words memorized and be able to recognize them in content before Thanksgiving.  Again, many kids are ready for this, but not all.  Back when I was learning how to teach - 25 years ago - we let kindergartners play with letters, numbers, and shapes. We let them explore their relationships with each other.  We played with pattern recognition.  Dear God, did we play with pattern recognition - using shapes, colors, and letters, we worked on pattern recognition.  We worked on fine motor skills - you know, your finger pincher grasp that you use to hold a pencil?  We worked on number theory.  Not only did the kids know the numbers, we were to make certain that three rocks = 3 = THREE.  We made certain that they understood that 3 was more than 1.   We let them play with manipulatives so that they could get a grasp of the concept of number.  We'd work on one to one correspondence.  Do we have enough toy cars for all of the dinosaurs to ride out to the playground in?  Let's see!!!  Nowadays, kids are adding and subtracting well before the end of kindergarten, but I'm not sure they understand why they need to know.

And where has this gotten us? 

ADHD rates nationally are through the roof.  Five year old children are being asked to sit still and learn for 45 minutes or more at a time without a break.  Developmentally, five year olds are just not capable of sitting still for that long.  Recess and naptime have been removed from the curriculum in the name of "test scores".

Anxiety and other stress related disorders are on the rise as our children are being pushed harder and harder to perform better.  Play, imagination, and free time have been wiped out of the school.  It doesn't help that parents are structuring their kids after school free time so that kids have no chance - no chance at all - to decompress from the stress of the day and let their minds take in what they have learned.

European countries - countries that stress play and don't begin to teach reading to their students until they are 8 years old - are performing better on standardized test scores across the board.  They have recess in their schools.  Vibrant music and arts programs.  Physical Education.  And across the board, these kids are performing better than our kids.  Do you see the disconnect?  As we push our kids down some dystopian road tied in with higher test scores, we are losing touch with the most valuable resource of all - the imagination.  The imagination that can take a seemingly impossible problem, work outside of the lines, and find a workable solution.  We are drilling that imagination, that love of play, and enjoyment of discovery and figuring out how things work in the name of test scores. 

I read a disturbing thought recently that I want to share here.

Do you remember the Apollo 13 Mission?  The lunar module broke.  The astronauts were facing the very real possibility that they were going to die - adrift and alone in the orbit of the moon.  NASA engineers were given a box containing everything that was available in the module and told to find a solution.

Find a solution they did.  Working hard against a clock with minimal supplies and the knowledge that death was the result of failure, they came up with a wildly imaginative solution that brought all of the astronauts safely back home.

There is doubt that our youngest crop of engineers and scientists have the kind of imagination now that would enable them to pull off the same miracle in the same situation.

It's frightening when you realize that those "old" engineers worked with nothing more than slide rules, and had played outdoors at recess throughout elementary school, were not over-scheduled on weekends and in the evenings, and had grown up without computers, smart phones, or video games.

What are we doing to ourselves?


The resources I used for this piece can be found here:
 

More Students Entering School Without Fine Motor Skills

How Schools Ruined Recess - And 4 Ways to Fix It

A NYC Teacher Breaks Silence on the Power of Play

Harnessing the Incredible Learning Potential of the Adolescent Brain

School Accountability Without Standardized Testing

Kindergartners Get Little Time to Play.  Why Does it Matter?

Students Who Use Digital Devices in Class Perform Worse in Exams

The Farmer's Market

Have you noticed that more and more farmer's markets are opening up as the growing season progresses?  I hit up two separate farmer's markets this weekend, saw my favorite farmers and picked up some wonderful produce!

You can only get these tasty roots in the spring and fall.  I LOVE BEETS!!

Asparagus.  This won't be around for much longer.  It doesn't even freeze well.

I picked up lettuce, spinach, and kale, too, but they don't make as nice of a picture.  Lots of green leaves in a bag....  But, they were picked fresh that morning!  I picked up some rhubarb, too.  Nothing screams spring like Strawberry - Rhubarb Cobbler.

Flower baskets galore!  I love the colors in this one!

More flowers!  I love their faces!

I picked up herbs, too.  A lot of herbs.  We filled a large pot.  I have basil, thyme, oregano, and chives.  Daughter put lavender in another pot.  I'm still searching for dill.  I'm not certain where I'm going to find it, though.

The biggest problem for the farmers is the very wet weather we've been having.  It's been hard to get stuff into the ground.  And you know, once the rain stops, it is going to be hot and muggy.  I hope there's enough of a window for the farmers to get their crops in this year.

I worked on this post yesterday morning.  Last night, Channel 2 News in Baltimore ran this story about the weather and the impact upon local crops:  http://www.wbaltv.com/news/wacky-weather-knocks-out-summer-crops-in-westminster/39573016.  I can't get the actual video to share in my window, but if you click on the link, you'll see the story. 

As I look out my window, I'm watching yet another gully washer pour down yet more rain upon our very soaked ground.  I'm beginning to get a little worried about the summer crops now...

What about you?  Have you managed to get anything in the ground yet this year?

Book Review: Chomp

Derek Badger is a reality tv star.  His show, Expedition Survival, is all about his adventures in the wilderness while battling wild animals who are out to eat him for dinner.

Wahoo Cray is a teenager whose father - Mickey - is a Wildlife Wrangler.  Mickey's the man you talk to if you want "tame" wild animals on your program.  He has trained the animals, and he takes care of them and makes sure that you treat his animals safely while they are on your program.

A few months back, the lives of the Cray family were turned upside down when a frozen iguana dropped on Mickey's head after a hard freeze and dented his head - giving him a concussion, persistent migraines, and double vision.  Since the accident, Mickey has not accepted any work, and the family's financial situation is getting dire.

When a phone call comes in from the Expedition Survival crew, asking Mickey's father to be the animal wrangler and provide them with an alligator, a snake, and a snapping turtle, Wahoo snaps up the offer without consulting with his father.  "What could possibly go wrong?"

Derek Badger really isn't the Wildlife Survival expert that he plays on tv.  He loves comfort and luxury, and doesn't like being  uncomfortable.  However, after an incident with an alligator, Derek is convinced that he can conquer anything and insists that his crew film in the Everglades with real wild animals along, so that the viewers can get the true Everglades Wildlife Experience.

Wahoo and his Dad are hired to be the animal wranglers on location, and Wahoo's friend Tuna tags along with them at the last minute, sporting a black eye that she claims came from "falling down a set of stairs", but everybody knows was given to her by her father.

What happens when the crew hits the Everglades is the stuff of nightmares:

1) Derek Badger goes missing in the middle of a storm.

2) Tuna's Dad shows up waving a gun, threatening to kill anyone who stands in between him and his kid.

Will Derek be found in time?
Can Tuna escape her father's wrath?

Women of the Bible

A few weeks ago, our church hosted Anita Gutschick, and her One Woman Show - Women of the Bible.   The show tells the tale of three different women from the Bible.  Anita tells the story of each of the women in the first person - dressed in character - with such a passion that she sweeps you into the heart of the story.  The three women we saw her perform were Queen Esther, Lot's Wife, and Rahab.  Let me tell you, it was a fascinating show.  I want to see her again.

On her website, Anita lists one thing that has stuck with me from before I saw her perform through to today - God worked - and continues to work - through ordinary people.  

As part of her performance, we set up the Narthex as a bazaar - what we imagine a bazaar might have looked like a couple thousand years ago.  Of course, ours was indoors, in climate controlled comfort, so I don't think it was as honest as it could have been!  But, we did do our best to find things that might have been in a marketplace and put them on display.

Baskets

From the spice market!

Pottery

Inside of the sanctuary, we attempted to set the stage to help transport the audience back to the time being depicted.

Rahab's area - left side of the stage.

Common table used by all of the characters. 

More character.

Queen Esther's chair.

What to Eat? Mom was right all along....

 The results from the Biggest Loser study came in while I was on break.  Did you see the story?  If you didn't, you can find the original article from the New York Times here. 

In short, the contestants from Season 8 have not only regained most, if not all of their weight, their metabolisms are now slower than they were before they began the study.  Many of the contestants find that they have to eat 500 calories a day LESS than is typical for someone of their weight and height just to keep from gaining weight.

I don't know.  Being significantly overweight, I find these statistics disheartening.  I've lost 30 pounds to date, but the thought that I might be doomed to put the weight back on has been a constant fear since I began losing weight.  This is why I changed my goals this year from losing weight to getting healthier, lowering my blood pressure, and exercising consistently.  I wanted to get away from focusing on the number on the scale.

However, I am a research librarian.  I work in an academic library, and one of the subjects we teach is nutrition.  I have the most accurate, cutting edge, up to date information on our library shelves.  I began reading through our hard copy books last year, and I've  discovered one thing: there is a LOT of conflicting information out there!  After some diligent reading, I began to notice a trend in most of the books and journal articles I was reading.  Once you cut through the high fat, high carb, low carb, low fat question there is one very common thread.  We need more vegetables in our lives.

There are a few books that have stood out for me during this research.

The Plant Plus Diet Solution.  I started reading this book back in April, just before the Biggest Loser study was released.  Fascinating, absolutely fascinating look at the state of the American Diet, and the misinformation that we are being fed about what is good for us, and what is not.  The author focuses on common misconceptions about what people THINK they should be eating, and what they SHOULD be eating.  She backs up her claims with solid science and journal articles.


(Stop laughing Mom, I know you've been saying that all of my life, and you didn't have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars going to school in order to know what was right all along...)

The last book I just finished plowing my way through was the "Hormone Reset Diet".  Yet another doctor telling us that we as a nation have drifted too far away from our food heritage.  Instead of eating fresh vegetables, we are eating processed foods full of chemicals and sugars that are slowly killing us from the inside out. 

(Once again Mom, you were right.  Eat more veggies.  You can't get enough veggies.)

I read By Any Greens Necessary last year. The title alone says it all.  We - okay me - need to eat lower on the food chain.  More veggies in my diet.  A lot more vegetables.

I've been working at getting vegetables into me more consistently this year.  I'm still not going to shout "OH BOY KALE!" the next time I go to the farmer's market to pick up stuff for the week, but I'll make a point of getting it.  I don't think I'll ever be shouting for joy over the prospect of a kale salad quite the way I do over freshly roasted Asparagus, but I'll work at it.  I really will. 

Oh, and one last thing each and every book had in common:  We don't get up and move our bodies often enough.  We need to get up and move more, and get more exercise.

Wait a minute - didn't our mothers always tell us to go out and play?

Once again, our mothers knew right from the beginning what the answer to good health was.  We need to listen to our mothers more often.

Book Review- The Sleeper and the Spindle

Not quite a graphic novel, not quite a storybook, this is a crossover between the two.  Neil Gaiman's words are framed beautifully by the illustrations so masterfully drawn by Chris Riddell.


You might think you know your Fairy Tales, but this Fractured Fairy Tale will keep you guessing up until the very last page.  As you read through the story, you will find familiar stories and faces that take the story into some very unexpected places!

This Young Adult Novel is worth your time!

I have a complete, professional review written on my YA Literature Blog, found here: 
http://librarynut-booksforteens.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-sleeper-and-spindle.html 

Weekly Wonderings

I had an interview at work yesterday.  This interview was for an "upgrade" if you will.  The position requires a greater knowledge of copyright law than I have.  I've spent the last few weeks going deeper into copyright law, fair use, and their applications.  I feel like I have a good working knowledge of it now.  Is it enough to get the new job?  Who knows?  I feel that I interviewed well.  So now, I wait.  No matter who is hired, I enjoyed going through the process.  And I learned new stuff, so that's a win, right?  If you're ever looking for some fantastic eLearning courses, the American Library Association has a plethora of relevant material on a multitude of subjects.  Thank you ALA for all you do for us!

The geese are intrigued with the book drop.

I've been scurrying around the house, attempting to get space cleaned out for middle child who comes home from college for the summer next week.  Problem is, I still haven't really gotten youngest child's stuff settled away from when she moved back home from college at the end of the first quarter.  I honestly don't know where everything is going to go, even though I have gotten rid of a lot of crap in the house.  I just don't seem to have enough space for college kids and all of their stuff.


I got a ceiling fan (mostly) installed for Mother's Day.  I bought the fan for myself last year, just before Mother's Day with my Christmas money.  So, after a year of sitting in a box on the floor, installation has begun.  It's going into the master bedroom, and should help alleviate the stagnant air problem that we have in that room year round.  Husband got the holes cut into the ceiling, the ceiling supports installed, and the junction box put in.  I might very well end up hiring an electrician to come in and finish up the installation.  No matter who finishes installing it, I really want it working before the summer heat settles in.  Our bedroom is brutally hot and humid during the summer - even when the a/c is cranked way down.

I finally, finally finished the last of the big doctors appointments now that I have celebrated my 14th annual 36th birthday.  Everything has come back normal, with the exception of two new moles that are sending me off to a dermatologist.  I've never been so happy in my life to be told I'm normal!  Hey, even better, my numbers have improved across the board!  (I'm not thrilled about the moles, but hey, once they're gone, they're gone.)

Have you found a farmer's market yet?   I hit up a small one over the weekend.  Strawberries, spinach, rhubarb, asparagus, and beets.  OH MY!!!  We had a strawberry spinach salad this weekend, along with strawberry rhubarb cobbler, and gently stir fried asparagus, and roasted beets, and I made a fried egg sandwich this morning with spinach and onions and had fresh strawberries as a side dish - oh, my word.  I have been a positive vegetable glutton this past week.  I just can't get enough spinach and kale. 

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Food Waste (HBO)

A sobering look at Food Waste in America.  I can't put it any better than he can.  It's staggering, when you think about how much food we throw away.  When you've got some time, watch this.  It will make you rethink a few things. 

My College Bucket List

I have my recent bucket list posted on the side of my blog.  I've been slowly chipping away at it over the years.  I knew I had another bucket list that I had written when I was in college.  I had been searching for it half-heartedly for the last few months, and I found it last week.  It was in a spiral notebook, filled with stuff from my college days.  Musings about school, future plans, current events, and this list.

Talk about a trip down memory lane.  Looking back through that notebook was a wonderful walk back in time.  I enjoyed remembering who I was 30 years ago and seeing the direction that I wanted my life to take.  You know, it's funny, but life happens in the midst of all your plans.

I wanted to share this list with you...  I enjoyed remembering where I was and what I wanted to do.  It's nowhere near where I am and what I'm doing now!

This list was written when I was in college during the 80's.  Looking at the things I had written before and after - most of which was dated - I'm thinking it was written in '86.

1) Hang out with Martin Short
Hello, this man is amazing.  I adore him, and would love to spend time just chatting with him.  I'd love to hear his world view!  Martin, if you're ever in the Baltimore area, I'd love to treat you to lunch somewhere and just chat for a while about life, the universe, and everything!  I've had a wild crush on you since 1985.)

2) Go Hot Air Ballooning
This would be so cool... Maybe for an anniversary I can talk my husband into it.

3) To bicycle/train ride around Europe
I still haven't been to Europe, but I would still love to ride the train around Europe and see the countryside, getting off at various points of interest all over the continent.  Even better, since I set this as a bucket list item back in 1986, the Berlin wall is gone, and Eastern Europe isn't quite the same as it used to be.  Oh,wait - could I ride on the Oriental Express? 

4) Go to Canada
Still haven't been, still want to go.  I've got a list of places I want to see: Novia Scotia, Prince Edward Island, The Canadian Rockies, Banff, Vancouver British Columbia, and the area around Niagra Falls.

5) Go to Australia
Need to get there.

6) Get my PhD before I'm 30.
Wow - talk about optimistic!  I'm 50 now, and earned my Master's Degree 3 years ago.  That took a lot longer than I thought it would, and NOW I really don't want a PhD.  I'm content with my Master's Degree, and I really do enjoy my job!

7) Go see Baryshnikov dance.

8) Get back into my music.
This was actually a new year's resolution back in 2013.   I used to play bassoon & flute back in high school, and I sang in college. When I wrote this goal back in the day, I intended that to mean my bassoon or flute.   I don't ever see picking up a bassoon or flute again, but I do love to sing.  Singing is so much more portable!  I've been singing in the church choir since 2013... I'm an alto, and I'm always thrilled when I come in on Wednesday nights for practice and Sunday morning to sing.

9) San Francisco
I went with my husband for our 10th anniversary.  It was awesome!  What a beautiful city!

10) Learn to Dance
Husband and I have taken dance lessons in the past.  I love my husband dearly, but he has no sense of rhythm and two left feet.  Swing dance lessons are absolutely painful with him.  We keep trying, though.  We have three kids who will eventually get married, and if any of them decide to have dancing at their reception, we will dance!


Isn't that a wonderful list full of optimism from a 21 year old?