I've been struggling with the decision of whether or not I want a fourth child again. On the one hand, I'm really enjoying the freedom that comes with the children getting older. I like not having a child in diapers, being able to run out alone or drop the kids off at a friends for a little while if I need to do something. Parenting the way I believe infants deserve is very draining. I'm not sure I have it in me to deal with the intensity of the first year again, as much as I enjoyed it. I don't know if I want to take on another toddlerhood, or to change the dynamic of our family again. Part of me is also a little nervous about labor again; the last birth was so intense that I don't know how I'll handle it again if it's like that.

On the other hand, it is wonderful to bring a new person into the world, to nourish and care for them, to guide them, love them and watch them grow and learn. I've said for years that I want four kids, do I really feel complete now? I think I could stop now and be comfortable with that decision, but there would always be a little kernel of doubt and regret in the back of my mind. Each age is so wonderful, from those little newborn days with the soft skin and long fingers, to the toddler exploration age, to the preschool learning sponge stage and the elementary growing up stage. It would be fun to watch one last child go through these stages.

Luis really wants one more, but even he admits that he isn't the one who handles most of the parenting. Is it fair to him to stop now, when he wants one more? Is it fair to me to have another when I'm not sure? Will I ever be sure if we stop at three? I know four is my limit, and if we have four, there won't be discussion of five. I just can't see either of us doing that.

I'm conflicted, to say the least. However, I'm starting to lean more towards having a fourth. Six months ago, I was no where near as conflicted as I am now. Six months ago, I was definately not ready, but now? Maybe.

Maybe.

We spent the weekend at our friends' cabin with them. We get up there once a year, hopefully more often this year. It is such a peaceful and beautiful spot. I took time each morning to walk alone along the road. It's off the beaten path, a gravel road in Amish country. As I walk along, I can see the hoof prints of horses and the lines of the carriage tires. I hear no traffic, just the sounds of pheasant, turkey, bluejays, even a hawk screaming. Today I heard the gentle clip-clop of a horse-drawn buggy in the distance. It is such a peaceful start to the day. We can't wait to get back up there again, though hopefully it will be warmer! It was a cold, wet weekend, and we were thankful for the woodstove in the cabin. There is no heater, just the woodstove, which made everything cozy. Luis and I found morel mushrooms in the woods for the first time this year. We had never tried them before.

We also stopped at a large Amish nursery just up the road. I had been looking for a dwarf cherry tree this year. I bought two dwarf pear trees, but the nursery we normally by from was out of the Northstar cherry trees I wanted. Low and behold, I found them at the Yoder's greenhouses. They were so healthy and beautiful, I was just thrilled. They were even just the right height to slide into the van and make it back to the cabin, then home, without spilling dirt all over. I now have my Northstar dwarf cherry planted in the backyard. :) After giving up on it for this year, I'm very happy. I have to remember the Yoder's for next year. They were so personable and caring about their plants, making sure to tell me how to prune the tree and advising my friend about her blueberry selections. Places like that are a joy to buy from.

I had a weight goal I wanted to have met by today. I wanted to have lost 24 lbs from Feb 14 until today, about 13 weeks. I lost 22.5. I'm slightly bummed that I didn't make it, but considering that my size 10 pants are getting looser and I know that I'm adding even more muscle with my additional workout at the YMCA, I'm not too upset. I've lost a lot of weight. Now my next goal is to lose another 16.5 lbs between now and Aug 1, which would bring me back to the weight I was around the time we got married and into the healthy weight range for my height. We haven't decided yet about baby number 4. I'm kind of thinking of trying in July, which would of course alter this goal. However, I'd still be at a much healthier weight for pregnancy that I was any of the other three times.

I have to frog the Jig sweater I was slowly working on. I've realized that with my weight loss, it will be too big. I'm not willing to waste the yarn making something that won't even fit. The Jaegar Aqua was a serious investment for me. The Evening in Eden stole is coming along nicely. It will be for my sister to wear after her wedding on the beach this fall. The evening will probably be cool, and with her strapless gown she'll need something on her shoulders. It is so elegant and cozy in the cream alpaca. I want to make one for myself; I really like the lace pattern. I'm thrilled that she picked out something that looks so pretty while being so easy to create, at least as far as lace goes.

Isabella started soccer tonight. She was so excited, but a bit nervous when she was actually there. It helped that our neighbor's son is in the program too, and they ended up on the same team. She's a Bobcat. ;D She gave it her all, in her own way. She didn't want to steal the ball from the other kids (perhaps all those conversation about waiting your turn and not taking things from other kids have sunk in finally?), but really enjoyed kicking when the ball happened to come her way. She has 5 more game nights, and she can't wait. She really enjoyed herself.

Speaking of Isabella, I've been working with her on reading. Abigail did great with the Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons method (though we only did about 50 of the lessons). Isabella, not so much. I think she'll be more of a sight words reader. She can remember most of the sounds we've worked on, but anticipates the ending of words when she reads them and has difficulty with the process of blending sounds together when sounding something out. She'll says the sounds S, A, T, but when putting them together, she might say "Sam" instead of "Sat". It can be really frustrating, for both of us. I got the first set of Bob Books from the library to try with her, and I may have to buy them. We have the level 2 ones already, but with Abigail I never bought the level 1 books. Isabella sat down with me and read the first book almost right away. The book format instead of just a list of words to read really helped her confidence and concentration. The repetition of the words is great for someone like her who reads more by the word then by the sounds. We worked on the sounds C and D yesterday, and she read the second book yesterday, though the word Sad was a source of frustration as she kept wanting to say Sat.

It's tricky though because she is very smart with a pretty good memory. After only a couple of times through the first book, I think she is just reading it from memory, cued by the pictures. Today I had her touch under the words she was reading, just to make sure she was actually reading instead of just reciting the story. It did alter her cadence, so I think she has been just reciting some of the last few times she read that book to me.

It's trash days again this weekend. Two weekends a year, one for each half of town, residents can put out pretty much anything for trash and have it taken away. There are no quantity limits, and people only need to buy stickers for stuff like tires. We love these weekends. Curbside shopping at it's finest! Last weekend was time for our half of town, and we got so much out of the house. Some of it truly was trash, but we neatly put out (rather on display) all sorts of things that we might have saved for a garage sale if we'd chosen to do that this year, things that didn't go on freecycle or were just too small and random to freecycle (though having successfully freecycled an open bottle of Newman's Own salad dressing, minus one salad's worth of dressing, I can say that many small and random things will easily go on freecycle, LOL). Almost everything was gone by the time the trash trucks came around on Tuesday morning, picked up by other trash shoppers.

In exchange for our stuff, Luis came home with the following: a boatload of perfectly good large flower pots, some never used, which I wanted for the front porch; a running lawn mower; a large wooden clothes drying rack for the basement; a working computer with a better processor than ours; a trailer(!) for his atv; metal tiki torches; trays and pots for starting seeds indoors; and some smaller stuff. These weekends are the ultimate in finding your treasure in your neighbor's trash.

Our freecycle group has just branched off with a barter and exchange group as well. I hope it takes off. We love to barter, and there are some things I have really been wanting to barter for.

I've had extra weight hanging around for quite a while now. Okay, since Abigail was born. It was never enough to get me motivated to do anything about it. I put on another 10 lbs last fall and winter and that was it. I started working out and watching my portion size, caloric intake and fat calories in February. I've lost 19 lbs so far. Woohoo! I have another 20 I want to lose. I have been doing Nordic Track for 45-50 minutes a day (30 in the a.m., 15-20 in the p.m.) and a Pilates intermediate workout in addition to my normal walking everywhere, gardening, etc. To be honest, I'm really enjoying the exercise and the stength I'm feeling in my stomach muscles. I've never had a strong abdomen, so this is really cool. I was wearing a size 12 (honestly though, they were tight), and now I can easily fit into size 10. The one pair of skinny size 12 pants I didn't wear all winter because they looked awful one me? I can now pull them off without unbuttoning them!

We joined the Y this weekend, something for all of us. The kids can do their programs at a *much* lower cost if we are members. Around here, the Y is the only real place for soccer, gymnastics, swimming lessons year 'round, etc. They also offer homeschool swimming and a homeschool gymnastics during the day time, instead of having everything in the evening hours. Abigail has mentioned many times that she'd like to take gymnastics, and Isabella would really like to try soccer in the fall. I'm excited about their fitness center. It's newly remodeled and pretty nice for a town this size. The Precore (sp?) machine is too fun. I've been doing 35 minutes on that the last few days and enjoying it a lot. I have also been trying to figure out exercises for my triceps (getting those saggy mom arms, ugh), so the tricep machine is too cool. Luis is thrilled to have a place to swim laps all year, and he really likes to do free weights. So, even though it's $50 a month, we'll definately get our money out it.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7184763/

I knew that there were some families like this, but I had no idea it was considered the norm these days. Reading about these people's lives was horrifying for me. I cannot imagine a world where my children's lives are that scheduled, a world where my family interacts so little with each other, a world without free time for imagination, play, long walks and conversation. There are times when I feel my kids are doing too much. For us, that means art once a week, play group twice a month, science club once a week, homeschool gym once a week (fall and spring), girl scouts once or twice a month (depending on girl). We eat dinner as a family every night, even when it means eating at 4:50 to make a 5:30 girl scout meeting. It's maybe once a month that we don't eat together. The kids have hours outside every day in spring, summer and fall, time to just be kids, to play hopscotch, ride bike, play superheros and run back and forth with the neighbors' kids. I didn't think my reality was that different. The two next door neighbors are also at home moms. The kids run around together, and we all keep eye out. It's not unusual for my kids to play next door for a few hours, then her kids come over here or go on a walk with us. They all have time to just be.

We were at the library the other night, wasting an hour while Abigail was at her Brownies meeting. I was talking with the children's librarian about various things. She's probably in her 50's, a really neat woman and fun to talk with. I told her some story about Vincent and the goofy things he does; she asked me to keep on telling her these stories because they give her hope. She said that she's noticed kids don't have as much imagination these days, that they play differently and interact with the world differently than they did in years past. If the lives of the families portrayed in this article are even remotely like the norm, then it's no wonder children are out of touch with play, imagination and family interaction. I hope this article was sensationalist, that the children studied in LA are not the norm for the US. I hope that most of the kids out there have large sections of each day to just be kids, without orchestrated activities, TV, video games or electronic media.

Now that I'm not tired, I can explain the last post more coherently. It was a cohesive thought until blogger ate half of it.

We live in an extremely Chrisitian community. There are about 30 various Chrisitian churches in this town of 10K, incuding a fair number of them fundamentalist or conservative Christians. The Christian culture is very strong here, almost overwhelming. The court house on the square downtown plays music year round; in December that music is Christmas carols, not just secular ones, but also religious ones. There was a huge upset a few years ago because someone complained about the fact that a monument to the ten commandments was in a public park. The city sponsors an Easter Egg hunt. This is a very Christian town.

Compounding this is the fact that the homeschooling community here is dominated by conservative Christians. I'm talking about the kind of Christians who feel that Catholics and Lutherans aren't real Christians (not just my impression, but that of some Catholics and Lutherans I know too). We have our core group of homeschooling friends, but we cautiously guard our religious beliefs from others in this community. We were asked to stop attending a dance class when I simply let it be known that we were not Christian. We left our 4-H group because it was overtly Christian. Abigail came back from a Girl Scout Thinking Day activity having learned "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands". When Isabella joined Daisy Scouts, I checked with the leader if they did any religious content, and was told "well, this is a Christian organization". NO, according to Girl Scouts International IT IS NOT.

So, while members of the conservative Christian community may claim they are under attack, that their values and beliefs are being banished from our society, from the perspective of someone outside of the mainstream, I can say it's not true. The Christian culture is everywhere in our society, from the obsessive coverage of the Pope issues (would it be covered so much if it where the Dali Lama or a Muslim leader?) down to the way that store clerks assume they should wish me a Happy Easter and people think I'm happy to hear "I'm praying for you" (when I haven't asked them to) or have them tell me "Jesus Bless You".

Honestly, I wouldn't even mind these biases so much if there even the slightest bit of fair trade on this. If the media covered other religions as obsessively as Christianity. If conservative Christians could accept that other people have a right to believe in other religions. If the courthouse here played traditional Jewish songs around Passover, Islamic ones for Ramadan, etc. If people who felt it was okay to share their religion with me wouldn't judge my family for being Pagan, wouldn't ostracisize us due to their unknown biases.

I always listen to NPR while exercising. Tonight the show was about the judiciary and whether it's under attack from the Judeo-Christian religious right and Congress, or would activist judges simply being properly treated through an impeachment process. One thing really struck me. One person advocating judicial impeachments kept referring to "people of faith". He kept saying that the "people of faith" were fine until activist judges started removing prayer from the schools, the Judeo-Christian Ten Commandments from courthouses, making abortion accessible, saying s od om y is legal and allowing gay marriage. I find this use of the term "people of faith" used to describe those who oppose these court decisions to be unbelievably conceited and insulting. I am a person who has a great deal of religious faith. I am not, however, someone who believes in the Judeo-Christian god. I want prayer out of the schools and the Ten Commandments off of public property. I believe that gays should marry and the goverment has no business creating laws regarding the s ex life of consenting adults. Don't use the term "people of faith" unless you mean to include people of ALL religious faiths.

While I am on this topic, the Pledge of Allegiance annoys me to no end. Specifically, the inclusion of the words "under God" is irritating to me. These words were added in the '50s during the Cold War as a way of seperating the US from the "Godless Communists". First, I see it as state-sponsorship of religion. Second, if the US wants to acknowledge a higher power, who gets to pick which one? Why must it be "God" rather than the name of another diety such as "Buddha", "Allah", "Goddess" or whatever? Why isn't it just "One nation, under {insert diety name here if desired}, indivisible with liberty and justice..."? So many children are forced to say this in public schools, and that just makes me sick. Sure, it's called voluntary, but how many kindergarteners are going to tell their teacher that they don't want to recite this because their family doesn't believe in God? How many seventh graders are willing to withstand peer pressure and the idea of being perceived as different because they don't want to say the Pledge or the word God? It's voluntary%


ARGH. This post was a lot longer, but somehow part disappeared in publishing. I'm too tired to recompose it. Surfice to say there was more ranting about the Pledge as well as complaints about people claiming this is a Christian nation founded by Christians, and I gave this link.

After months of introspection, I am ready to talk again. Winter is for hibernation for many species, and I tend to hibernate mentally over the winter months. Spring is well sprung, and I am ready to emerge from a winter's sleep.

The garden is well planted already this early spring. I made a serious attempt to start my own seedlings inside this year, and it has paid off. I transplanted the broccoli outside last week, and all survived. I even have 6 extra plants to share with my neighbor. The tomatoes are growing well downstairs, along with peppers, eggplants, lavender and basil, all awaiting warmer early summer weather. In the garden outside, I have so far planted my carrots, lettuce, spinach (180 plants, OMGosh!), radishes, beets, peas and potatoes in addition to the broccoli. I've gotten serious about my gardening this year and making the most of our limited space. Successive crop growing is a must for us, and the spinach and radishes will be done just in time to clear out that bed and plant the sweet corn. I'm growing both bush peas (progress no. 9) and trellis ones (sugar snap) this year to compare yield and decide which type to continue with in future years. This is the first year for potatoes, so my expectations are very low. It seem to take a few years for me to get the hang of new veggies. I have big goals for the garden this year, and a second chest freezer to fill up with produce for the rest of the year. I really hope to grow enough broccoli, spinach, carrots, beans, beets, tomatoes and grapes (for jelly and juice) to put away enough to last us most of a year.

The dwarf fruit trees are going in this year too. I'm definately getting two for pie cherries, and then either two apple or two pear. Maybe both apple and pear. I haven't decided that yet, but need to in the next month.

We are doing pretty well otherwise. Abigail is 7 now, a reading fiend, music nut and goofy girl. Isabella is 5, with a gap in her smile now that she has lost two teeth. She's still an interesting one to parent, a combination of spunk and caution, outgoing and introvert. She's so totally me, oh bother. Vincent is two and a half. He is totally Luis as a child, which is unbelieveably frustrating sometimes. He's so smart and stubborn, a good problem solver, and totally impish. We've been debating speech therapy for him, as he is definately delayed in his expressive speech, but undecided at this point. His speech is improving, and he has gained a larger number of new words in the last few weeks. He's really improved in the last month, and we are thinking he's probably just a "late talker", rather than in need of actual therapy.

So, I'm back and hopefully will be posting here much more regualarly again.

I have been craving a place to talk natural parenting again. So, rather than complain about the lack of places that feel right, I am creating one. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/naturalmama An email list will have to do since I simply cannot organize a board right now.

Here is the group description:

Who is a Natural Mama? Well, chances are you can't tell just by looking at her. She probably isn't farming on a commune and spending her days in tie dyed peasant dresses, Birks and dreadlocks. Natural Mamas often look just like everyone else, but they are different inside.

Natural Mamas believe in natural parenting. They parent gently and look for natural alternatives in healthcare, education, nutrition and entertainment. Chances are their families rarely watch TV. They probably eat many organic or unprocessed foods. Natural Mamas probably homeschool their kids or have them in alternative schools. They are likely use herbal or other natural medicines. They believe in parenting without force, without belittling. Are you a Natural Mama?

This group is for families with children of all ages, but it has been specifically started for support as our children grow older. There are many places out there to find support for parenting a baby naturally, but few for parenting school aged children this way.
I hope you'll decide to join if the group sounds like you.

We are trying to decide if we should have Isabella's hearing tested, once again. She's had problem occasionally for a couple of years, but if we candle her ears, the problems stop. She definately has an excess amount of wax production in the one ear. On the one hand, my gut says she doesn't have an actual hearing problem because when we candle her ears she can hear our words and repeat them even if we speak pretty softly while she is across the room with her back turned. On the other hand, maybe it would be best just for our peace of mind?

I had an Usbourne books party last weekend. Wow, I had NO idea they had so many terrific books. They really are a homeschoolers dream. I haven't closed out the party yet, but hopefully will be able to get a $100 set of texts on science, history and geography/social studies for $25. My mom and sister bought the kids a lot of really neat books for the holidays.

Our chickens are now laying 3-4 eggs a day. This is so cool! It's neat to go out every day and get more eggs. We still have two young birds that haven't even started laying yet. I'm also getting 3 more birds (barred rocks this time) from a friend soon.

Drats, Vincent's awake.

Sure enough. Machine Error Gives Bush Extra Ohio Votes I don't even know what to say anymore.

Count me among the many, the depressed, the Kerry supporters. We felt so deeply about this election that we even had a yard sign (two actually, one was stolen) and a bumper sticker, two things we've never even considered before, and we were bugging other people to get out an vote. I was deeply saddened to wake up yesterday morning to the news that Bush was in all likelihood the winner, and then have Kerry concede midday. After things were so neck and neck in the evening before I went to bed, I really felt that Kerry had a good shot. Luis and I are very concerned about the path our country is heading down. Bush has another 4 years to screw things up, but the long term effects will be felt for many more years, especially in the judiciary and the world view of the US. I believe that our time as a superpower is ending, that within the next 10 years our role in the world will greatly changed. America has always been a great country, never the greatest in any one thing, but pretty dang good in lots of them, but I believe that our time is passing. We also fear for Luis' job as a union member.

Luis is a conspiracy theory kind of thinker, and last night he was speculating about the electronic voting machines. Out of curiousity, I started looking around last night. Okay, it was more out of "I really don't want to go to bed yet, so I'll waste some time online". Wow. The stuff I came across regarding those machines is scary.

Taken from kp and Lynn


You appear to be a Knitting Guru. You love knitting
and do it all the time. While finishing a piece
is the plan, you still love the process, and
can't imagine a day going by without giving
some time to your yarn. Packing for vacation
involves leaving ample space for the stash and
supplies. It can be hard to tell where the yarn
ends and you begin.
http://marniemaclean.com


What Kind of Knitter Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Who knew? I wouldn't call myself a guru, but I do love working with yarn daily and the vacation thing is right on...

Just a long ramble tonight...

I just walked Hobo. We walk every evening, usually after the kids go to sleep, sometimes after dinner if Luis isn't busy with a project. Tonight wasn't our longest walk (30 blocks), but it was our best time. 20 blocks in 22 minutes. Woohoo!

Today's science club activity was at a local state park - a tree walk, nature scavenger hunt and then a chromotography discussion. I even learned something, what makes the leave yellow/red/orange/purple/brown in the fall.

We had our first soup night of the fall yesterday. Soup night is when I make a couple of large batches of soup or chili and a bunch of bread, then we invite a bunch of interesting people over for dinner. Whoever can make it, comes, but we never have any idea what type of group will show up for sure. I tried cream of broccoli soup yesterday, and it was very good.

We picked up three more chickens last Friday. I didn't want to pay shipping, and I didn't want to get 2 month old birds this close to winter, so I found someone through the Backyard Chickens' board who lived about 1.5 hours away and had grown hens we could have. I picked up two Rhode Island Reds (1 year old) and a Brown Leghorn (6 months old) for myself, plus two birds for my friend P. Even with the stress of moving them, we've gotten two eggs every day so far. Can I just say that it is SO COOL to go out to the garage and come back with eggs? I can't wait for the others to start laying. One or two are very very close to being ready to lay, the others need to grow a little more still.

Abigail has her first Brownies meeting tomorrow night. She is very excited about the idea of Brownies. I hope the leader and the other girls are nice.

I have finished another pair of socks for Isabella. I've also almost finished the second sleeve on the cable weave sweater, but I've realized I do not have enough yarn for the neckline. I called the store I bought the yarn at (an hour away) and luckily they had some left. They are shipping it to me. I've also got one sleeve on my Rosemary's Sweater nearly complete. I've completely stalled on the Jig sweater. Maybe once I get some of the other projects actually finished, I'll be ready to pick that up again.

Swiped from Larissa

01. Bought everyone in the pub a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula.
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said 'I love you' and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Done a striptease
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Stayed up all night long, and watch the sun rise
15. Seen the Northern Lights
16. Gone to a huge sports game
17. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
18. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
19. Touched an iceberg

20. Slept under the stars
21. Changed a baby's diaper
22. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
23. Watched a meteor shower
24. Gotten drunk on champagne
25. Given more than you can afford to charity
26. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
27. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
28. Had a food fight
29. Bet on a winning horse
30. Taken a sick day when you're not ill (and really, who the hell hasn't done this?)
31. Asked out a stranger
32. Had a snowball fight
33. Photocopied your bottom on the office photocopier
34. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
35. Held a lamb
36. Enacted a favorite fantasy
37. Taken a midnight skinny dip
38. Taken an ice cold bath
39. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar

40. Seen a total eclipse
41. Ridden a roller coaster
42. Hit a home run
43. Fit three weeks miraculously into three days
44. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
45. Adopted an accent for an entire day
46. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
47. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
48. Had two hard drives for your computer
49. Visited all 50 states
50. Loved your job for all accounts
51. Taken care of someone who was shit faced
52. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
53. Had amazing friends
54. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country (Does Montreal Count?)
55. Watched wild whales
56. Stolen a sign
57. Backpacked in Europe
58. Taken a road-trip
59. Rock climbing

60. Lied to foreign government's official in that country to avoid notice
61. Midnight walk on the beach
62. Sky diving
63. Visited Ireland
64. Been heartbroken longer then you were actually in love
65. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
66. Visited Japan
67. Benchpressed your own weight
68. Milked a cow
69. Alphabetized your records
70. Pretended to be a superhero
71. Sung karaoke
72. Lounged around in bed all day
73. Posed nude in front of strangers
74. Scuba diving
75. Got it on to "Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye
76. Kissed in the rain
77. Played in the mud
78. Played in the rain
79. Gone to a drive-in theater

80. Done something you should regret, but don't regret it
81. Visited the Great Wall of China
82. Discovered that someone who's not supposed to have known about your blog has discovered your blog
83. Dropped Windows in favor of something better
84. Started a business
85. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
86. Toured ancient sites
87. Taken a martial arts class
88. Swordfought for the honor of a woman
89. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
90. Gotten married
91. Been in a movie
92. Crashed a party
93. Loved someone you shouldn't have
94. Kissed someone so passionately it made them dizzy
95. Gotten divorced
96. Had sex at the office
97. Gone without food for 5 days
98. Made cookies from scratch
99. Won first prize in a costume contest

100. Ridden a gondola in Venice
101. Gotten a tattoo
102. Found that the texture of some materials can turn you on (specifically, the underside of people's tongues. don't ask)
103. Rafted the Snake River
104. Been on television news programs as an "expert"
105. Got flowers for no reason
106. Masturbated in a public place
107. Got so drunk you don't remember anything
108. Been addicted to some form of illegal drug
109. Performed on stage
110. Been to Las Vegas
111. Recorded music
112. Eaten shark
113. Had a one-night stand
114. Gone to Thailand
115. Seen Siouxsie live
116. Bought a house
117. Been in a combat zone
118. Buried one/both of your parents
119. Shaved or waxed your pubic hair off

120. Been on a cruise ship
121. Spoken more than one language fluently
122. Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone
123. Bounced a check
124. Performed in Rocky Horror
125. Read - and understood - your credit report
126. Raised children
127. Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood toy
128. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
129. Created and named your own constellation of stars
130. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
131. Found out something significant that your ancestors did
132. Called or written your Congress person
133. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
134. ...more than once? - More than thrice?
135. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
136. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
137. Had an abortion or your female partner did
138. Had plastic surgery
139. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived.

140. Wrote articles for a large publication
141. Lost over 100 pounds
142. Held someone while they were having a flashback
143. Piloted an airplane
144. Petted a stingray
145. Broken someone's heart
146. Helped an animal give birth
147. Been fired or laid off from a job
148. Won money on a T.V. game show
149. Broken a bone
150. Killed a human being
151. Gone on an African photo safari
152. Ridden a motorcycle
153. Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100mph
154. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
155. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
156. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
157. Ridden a horse
158. Had major surgery159. Had sex on a moving train

160. Had a snake as a pet
161. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
162. Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing
163. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
164. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
165. Visited all 7 continents
166. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
167. Eaten kangaroo meat
168. Fallen in love at an ancient Mayan burial ground
169. Been a sperm or egg donor
170. Eaten sushi
171. Had your picture in the newspaper
172. Had 2 (or more) healthy romantic relationships for over a year in your lifetime
173. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
174. Gotten someone fired for their actions
175. Gone back to school
176. Parasailed
177. Changed your name
178. Petted a cockroach
179. Eaten fried green tomatoes

180. Read The Iliad
181. Selected one "important" author who you missed in school, and read,
182. Dined in a restaurant and stolen silverware, plates, cups because your apartment needed them
183. ...and gotten 86'ed from the restaurant because you did it so many times, they figured out it was you
184. Taught yourself an art from scratch
185. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
186. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt
187. Skipped all your school reunions (not on purpose) ON PURPOSE!
188. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
189. Been elected to public office
190. Written your own computer language
191. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
192. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
193. Built your own PC from parts
194. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
195. Had a booth at a street fair
196: Dyed your hair
197: Been a DJ
198: Found out someone was going to dump you via LiveJournal
199: Written your own role playing game
200: Been arrested

Summer has wound down and life is back into full swing here. Art class, 4-H, homeschool gym, science club and playgroup, plus we are thinking about a dance class for both girls and girl scouts for Abigail. The kids are loving it, and I'm not feeling overwhelmed yet. Everything but girl scouts is during weekdays (the 4-H club and dance class are organized by homeschoolers), so weekends and evenings are still free. That makes such a huge difference imo. Not having to rush around during the evenings or weekends, being able to keep the weekends and evenings open for family time, that makes life seem more relaxed and open to me.

Since we have decided not to sell our house, I wanted to change the chicken coop and run. We ripped out the raspberries, since they haven't produced much the last few years anyways, and put the run there. This way I also get my 5th garden bed back. Then, Luis built a coop in part of the garage, and there are ramps that go up to the window from both the coop and the run. They have so much more space now, and I don't have to worry so much about them in the cold winter. We can just close the window of the garage to keep them in on the cold days, and there is electricity to put a light on a timer or plug in a heater if needed. Luis did an amazing job building it all.

Speaking of Luis, a teenager called him "sir" the other. He isn't coping with it well. ROFL

On the knitting front, I have been jumping projects like mad. The cable weave sweater is nearly done, about 1/3 of a sleeve is left along with the collar. I've finished a pair of socks for Isabella, and another sock up to the toe decreases. I've made Lynn's poncho for her as well, except for the furry fringe along the edges. I need her to try it on again in good light; I think the hood might be too short, as much as I'd hate to rip that out. I've done a little work on the stripey sweater, the Jig sweater and my Rosemary's sweater too. I need to focus on finishing some of these up! I want to cast on a heavy poncho for me and water bottle holder too, but I'm making myself wait until something is finished!

A Hobo finds a home

Hobo the dog has found a new home with us. He's an Australian Shepherd/Heeler mix that we recused from the Humane Society a few days ago. He was a stray, but we believe he had a home before. He seems to be housebroken, but not really trained well for sit, stay, etc. He's quite intelligent and has been learning qickly. He's a great dog, pretty calm and good with the kids. He does have a slight tendency to jump on Luis and me, particularly first thing in the morning, but is quick to stop when we say down. Vincent and Isabella are still somewhat nervous around him at times, but they are starting to relax. They really like him, it just makes them nervous when Hobo tries to smell them.

Here's our Hobo:

There is nothing like a good piece of pie. The way a truly flaky crust feels on the tongue. The contrast between the mellow crust and the burst of flavor that is the fruit. (The only real pies in my book are double crusted fruit pies. Creams, merigues, custards - those are just gussied up puddings and whatnot.) The smell that floats up as it bakes, that sweet spicy combination of sugar, fruit and nutmeg. The feeling of pride one gets when sharing a good pie with others. I love pie.

Pie lives in the shadow of the showier cakes. Cakes get all the events. Birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, retirements. They all have cake. Pie, on the other hand, is family gatherings and potluck dinners. It's sitting on the front porch on a cool summer evening, visiting with the neighbors as the kids ride bikes.

Cake may have claimed all of the milestones, but I think pie got the better end of the deal. Pie gets to be part of the true essence of living.

I've got two pies cooling and another in the oven. Why don't you come on over for a slice and chat awhile?

I can tell that we are emotionally invested in the house again. We are almost done repainting the bathroom, we finally bought the window glazing we've been meaning to all year, Luis has replaced all the old switches and I've been going to town in the garden. I moved the sage out of my veggie garden and into one of the flower beds. It was getting way too big for the veggie garden, and it looks so pretty that it does well in the flowers. The plants were both very large, but I'm happy to say they are doing well after the transplant. I was worried.

I've been ruthlessly ripping stuff out of the flower beds. There are plants I no longer wanted, or had too many off. I'm trying to find a home for three rose bushes that were here when we bought the place, but I don't want. I'm also collecting the calendula seeds faithfully. I have been letting it reseed itself, but I want to move the patch next year, so I need to collect. I'm going to fertilize the west flower bed heavily with compost this fall and put the tomatoes there next spring, so I have to rip out or most of the flowers there. I'm also going to put in a lot more lavender over there.

I'm really into gardening again now that I know I'll have this land longer.