Glowing

Thank heaven I felt much better today! In fact I don’t think I took any medicine at all. I’m not sure, because my brain is still pretty foggy about, well, everything, but I don’t have any specific memory of having to resort to drugs today.

I did go out shopping this morning to get a few school supplies and also of course the all-important glow sticks. By the time I returned, Lucy’s friend Taylor was here and then after lunch, I took the two girls and Spencer to the monthly teenage social event for our homeschool group.

AJ and his cousin Jonnie stopped by to say goodbye before heading out for spring break. I sent a signed copy of my memoir with Jonnie for his dad, who was at Sakeji with me all the way through.

But the big news of course was the third attempt at glow jars! After supper tonight I got out the glow sticks and Jasper picked his color (purple) and since the sticks were the really little ones we dumped four of them in the jar. Success at last! Jasper was thrilled! There were many trips to the bathroom (the only windowless room in the house) to admire the lovely purple glow. Lucy made a green one. Two happy kids now!

Quote of the Day:

Jasper: “I’m sorry if my demented laugh kind of scares you.”

In Which I am Hoodwinked

Well, I don’t really think of myself as terribly gullible, but that doesn’t mean I’m infallible. Today I fell for a hoax, and although to me it’s both a little amusing and a little annoying, it was very disappointing to Jasper.

Yesterday his science class made “firefly jars.” He was supposed to bring a glass jar with a lid and some glow sticks, if he had any. I was delighted to discover that I did have a little stash of glow sticks left over from something or other, so I put them in a zip lock bag with his jar.

In class, he was rather dismayed to find out that all except one of his glow sticks were taken away and given to other children, especially since their firefly jars glowed and his did not. There was no backup stick for him to try, and he was so upset about his dud firefly that he just gave his jar away and spent the rest of the afternoon grieving over it.

I felt so bad for him. I was fresh out of glow sticks, so I spent hours that I really couldn’t spare trying to figure out a way to get him a working firefly jar. I was willing to go out and buy glow sticks, but I wanted to make sure I had all the right supplies. One of the things I came across in my research was a couple of how-to articles on making your own glow jars with Mountain Dew, baking soda, and hydrogen peroxide.

I thought I would surprise Jasper by letting him do this experiment tonight after my Bible study. I found four clean jars with lids. I measured out four portions of baking soda and four portions of hydrogen peroxide. I even added glitter to make it more awesome. I got Mercy and Lucy to do it too. I put in the prescribed amount of Mountain Dew and then we all added the other ingredients, screwed on the lids, and shook up our jars.

As I’m sure you’ve guessed, nothing happened. What we had was four jars of foamy Mountain Dew with glitter. Poor Jasper. We tried adding more of various ingredients, but none of it helped. Jasper was so disappointed. That’s when I went back to the computer to figure out what we had done wrong. What we did wrong was to fall for a long-running hoax that has been circulating on the internet for some time.

So, guess who’s going out to buy glow sticks in the morning? Tomorrow night we had better have some glowing firefly jars!

Today has been rough in other ways also. My cold, after seeming to almost disappear over the weekend, has come back with a vengeance and today I had a very hard time functioning. I am really hoping to feel better tomorrow!

Whew!

What a relief! Another week of co-op classes done and I get a week off before returning for the final four weeks. I am so ready for a break, so ready to be done with the hours and hours of preparation every week.

Today we were studying East Africa so I got to talk a little bit about Kenya and show some photos of places I have been. One of the girls made mandazis and I brought a couple of big thermoses of chai which were very well received. The only problem was that teaching this lesson made me very homesick and the next lesson will be worst of all because we’ll finally get to Zambia!

After we got home I had a new tutoring student to work with, a friend of Lucy’s. That is something I always enjoy.

Last night Spencer was up late doing homework, and so was I. He was supposed to take a blood sample and look at it under the microscope. So we got out the microscope. Then a problem developed. Spencer was not willing to prick himself hard enough to draw blood. So I pricked my own finger, squeezed some blood on to a slide, and put it under the scope. We saw lots of little red blood cells swimming around. It was really cool.

Today, when we got back from co-op, Jasper was very anxious to see the blood slide too. He did a great job of focusing the microscope and was thrilled to see the now-dried blood cells. “It’s so beautiful!” he exclaimed. So there you have it. My blood is beautiful. I’ll remind myself of that the next time I look in the mirror.

I Never Was a Boy Scout, But . . .

This weekend, as my husband and I were on our little getaway, I thought fondly back on the days when we traveled with a van full of young children. Our kids mostly enjoyed traveling, despite the fact that we didn’t have video games for them to play or movies for them to watch. I did learn to be prepared, though.

I posted most of these suggestions many years ago, long before most of you were reading my blog. It occurred to me that maybe some young mothers who read this might find some of these ideas helpful. When my kids were little, I learned to keep certain items in our van at all times. Since we have a van, it was easy to fit these things under the seats. If you have a different kind of vehicle, you might need to put these things in a corner of the trunk.

• First Aid Kit. Duh. A no-brainer. Plenty of bandaids, a bee-sting pen, antibiotic ointment, some wet wipes, etc. Also some ibuprofen or acetaminophen. It can all fit into a plastic food container. We have rarely needed our first aid kit, but when we did, we were VERY glad to have it!

• A few bottles of water. If you need to take some ibuprofen, you’re going to need water. Likewise if you get stuck in a traffic jam in July with no air conditioning in your vehicle.

• A plastic box containing the following things: paper plates, paper napkins, paper cups, plastic flatware, salt & pepper shaker, large sharp knife, and a thin plastic cutting board. Sometimes, you may find yourself stranded somewhere with hungry children. It may be a place far from a fast food joint. Or you may not be able to afford a restaurant meal. But if there is a convenience store or grocery store nearby, you can buy bread and peanut butter or other picnic food and turn your misfortune into an adventure for your kids. It’s a lot easier to feel adventurous if you have something to eat off of.

• A plastic box containing zip-lock bags with special toys in them. By “special” I mean that they are kept in the car and only brought out in true emergencies—such as being stuck in the waiting room at the doctor’s office for three hours. We had a bag of carefully selected Lego pieces that could make a couple of little buildings, some people, and a few vehicles. We also had a little miniature village complete with tiny buildings, fences, animals, trees, people, and cars. There was a set of little wooden gnomes that could be stacked various ways or used as characters in role-playing. And there was always a pad of paper and some pencils that could be used for drawing or playing hangman or tic tac toe. We also had a good collection of the Little Golden Books mini-versions (about 3 inches square) that sadly are not available anymore. The books had all the words and pictures of the larger versions but were so compact. We had hours’ worth of read-aloud material in a very small space. Now I bet you could have all that stuff on your Kindle. I also had some alphabet dice that we could make crosswords with or practice our reading skills.

• Pipe Cleaners. I would buy these at the dollar store and keep a couple of packages tucked away in the van. Pipe cleaners have saved my sanity more times than I can count. Pipe cleaners could keep my kids occupied for several hours. If they seemed to be losing interest, I would make suggestions. “Make a hat. Make something you would like to have for a pet. Make a bouquet of flowers.” I miss the pipe cleaner days.

Those are my suggestions for things to keep in your vehicle at all times. If you are a mother of very young children, I would like to add that there are two things that are handy to carry in your handbag all the time.

First, a small bottle of bubble solution with a bubble wand. I had a lovely little glass bottle that I bought at a craft fair, and it had a cord so I could wear it like a necklace. When the kids were tired/hungry/impatient/bored, I could always blow bubbles and create an instant mood improvement. Now you can get the little plastic bottles that they use at weddings. Inexpensive and well worth it when the need arises.

Secondly, I recommend getting a laser pointer that you can attach to your key ring. One that is intended for entertaining a cat is just fine. Toddlers are equally entertained by a laser pointer. And there is a bonus here. Not only is your child being entertained by chasing the little red dot—he’s wearing himself out, too! It’s great for getting kids to run off some energy instead of getting whiny.

Thus endeth the Mama Mentor child entertainment class.

Today was a big school day as I tried to catch up with what I have to do and help Jasper with his schoolwork too. And we also had our Literary Society dinner. I cannot wait until tomorrow afternoon when I can breathe a big sigh of relief!

Home Again

Well, we’re back home and now we’re both sick. Mercy’s cold is the gift that keeps on giving! I have had a relatively mild case due to my zinc regimen, but  poor Walter is really suffering (he rejected the zinc).

Yesterday we slept in and tried to rest up a little before going to meet Flynn for lunch after he got out of church. We met at our favorite Ethiopian restaurant, which Flynn had been unable to find on his own. While at the restaurant, Walter goaded me into asking the waitress (whom I believe was the owner) about why my injera comes out too crispy unless I flip it. She explained to me that you have to cover the pan for a few seconds to get the top to set properly. Nowhere in any of my research has there been a mention of this. It almost makes me want to use my last bag of teff flour to do some experimenting!

After lunch we went to Flynn’s apartment to drink tea and watch a movie. Then I helped him make rice cakes. He tried to make them himself recently, and the frying pan caught on fire and it was a rather traumatizing experience. So I coached him through the whole process, during which we realized that he had left out a couple of things when he did it. The end result was that he had a nice pan full of rice cakes which he can reheat whenever he wants.

One of the things that Flynn had left out of his rice cakes was salt. This is because he has no salt whatsoever in his apartment. I’m not sure I have ever known of someone not having salt. So, when I realized he didn’t have any, I said, “Well, we can just use the salt in my purse then.” Which led him to say, incredulously, “You have salt in your purse?” Why, yes I do. Not always, but when we’re traveling I always put a mini salt and pepper shaker in my purse because you never know where you’ll be eating and if the food might need a little help. And now I feel fully vindicated for this practice.

Flynn took us to a Chinese place for supper, where he was delighted that the waitress noticed his unicorn chopsticks and admired them. Then it was time to say goodbye and head back to our hotel. Walter was feeling very poorly and I was not much better.

This morning we were on the road by 9:00 and headed home. It was good to get back, even though I had to sit right down at my computer and start getting ready for my class. It worked out okay, but now I am behind in Geography after my busy weekend and have only one more day to catch up!

Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us

Dorothy A. Thrupp

Savior, like a shepherd lead us, much we need Thy tender care;
In Thy pleasant pastures feed us, for our use Thy folds prepare.
Blessèd Jesus, blessèd Jesus! Thou hast bought us, Thine we are.
Blessèd Jesus, blessèd Jesus! Thou hast bought us, Thine we are.

We are Thine, Thou dost befriend us, be the guardian of our way;
Keep Thy flock, from sin defend us, seek us when we go astray.
Blessèd Jesus, blessèd Jesus! Hear, O hear us when we pray.
Blessèd Jesus, blessèd Jesus! Hear, O hear us when we pray.

Thou hast promised to receive us, poor and sinful though we be;
Thou hast mercy to relieve us, grace to cleanse and power to free.
Blessèd Jesus, blessèd Jesus! We will early turn to Thee.
Blessèd Jesus, blessèd Jesus! We will early turn to Thee.

Early let us seek Thy favor, early let us do Thy will;
Blessèd Lord and only Savior, with Thy love our bosoms fill.
Blessèd Jesus, blessèd Jesus! Thou hast loved us, love us still.
Blessèd Jesus, blessèd Jesus! Thou hast loved us, love us still.

Dogs, Kilts, and Tiny Dancers

Flynn came over to our hotel this morning and then we all went together to the North Texas Irish Festival. We got there right after it opened, which was good, because that meant that we got a parking space that was in the same general area as the Festival.

The first surprise was that there were dogs everywhere. Lots and lots of dogs. Reading on the website that they were dog-adoption booths at the festival did not somehow make me realize that everybody who had a dog would bring it. I have never seen so many dogs at one event in my life. Of course, there were plenty of Irish setter and other Irish breeds, including the majestic Irish wolfhounds. My ambition is to someday own a pair of Irish wolfhounds and be wealthy enough to feed them.

There were big dogs and little dogs. Chihuahuas and mastiffs. Many dogs were dressed in Irish or Scottish themed clothes. There were dogs wearing kilts and tams. Dogs in strollers. Dogs in wagons. I even saw a dog being carried in a baby sling. Clearly, if you are allergic to dogs or just don’t like them, this is not the festival for you!

We started off by listening to the first group playing at the first stage we happened upon. They were a high-energy group called Hares on the Mountain. They apologized for not having a drummer: “Usually we have a drummer, but it’s pretty early in the morning, and, well, he’s a drummer.” Apparently he had too much Guinness last night.

Then we went on a tour of the place—it was HUGE! It was fun to see our blacksmith friend Shadowhawk there, and it didn’t hurt to warm up by the forge either. It was a very cool and windy day.

There was an enormous building full of Scottish-themed stuff, including individual booths for all the major clans. I saw more kilts today than I have ever seen in one place before—mostly tartans but there were quite a few utilikilts also. I have a weak spot for kilts, so I’m not complaining.

We all agreed that for lunch we should spurn “American” food and go for something in the spirit of the event. So Walter and Flynn got haggis and I got a Cornish pasty and a Scotch egg. Everything was delicious but outrageously overpriced.

Then it was time for the one event we had all really been looking forward to—the pipes and drums of the North Texas Caledonian Pipes and Drums. They did not disappoint! We got a full hour of bagpipe music! And so did dozens of dogs. And so did an adorable baby in front of us who kept smiling and waving at me and Walter.

Then it was over to another location to listen to one of Lina’s favorite Celtic groups, Beyond the Pale. They’ve got one guy who plays hammered dulcimer, saxophone, flute, and tin whistle—and sings too.

Flynn had to leave early because I had noticed last night that a free accordion workshop would be offered, and Flynn has an accordion. So he went back to the car and got his accordion and got to sit in on a workshop with an accomplished musician and a bunch of other accordion players. I listened in on the last half of it myself.

The festival was really hopping by then. Hundreds and hundreds of dogs and people everywhere you looked! And most of them were drinking beer. Well, the people were. Not the dogs. I hope.

The final thing that I had really wanted to see was some Irish dancers, so we found that stage and watched some great Irish step dancing. First some teenagers came out, followed by successively smaller dancers until we ended up with some absolutely adorable preschoolers. So cute. All the dogs thought so too.

We did a little more looking around before heading out the gate, past the two DeLoreans that were on display there (hey, they were made in Ireland!) and back to the car. By then we had been there for seven hours and I was walking pretty slowly. Flynn took us out to supper and then came back to our hotel room for a cup of tea. It was a lovely but tiring day. It was a great Christmas present!

Getting Away

My Christmas present is this weekend in Dallas to attend the North Texas Irish Festival. As a bonus, today happens to have been the day when Mary had a two-hour layover at the Dallas airport.

Walter and Spencer worked all morning at their yard job, and then we packed up and got on the road shortly after lunch. (The kids stayed at home and were planning on having a pizza/movie night tonight.)

When Flynn got off work, he drove down to meet us at our (budget) hotel and then the three of us went out and bought some Indian food before heading to the airport to meet Mary. It was a little awkward eating curry sitting in an airport baggage claim, but great to get to spend a few minutes with Mary before she flew on to Colorado.

After seeing Mary off, we returned to our room and visited with Flynn for a while and made plans for our trip to the festival tomorrow. We are looking forward to it!

Sick Day

Today I slept in without guilt, because I am sick and because I feel my primary job is to recover as quickly as possible so I can enjoy my weekend in Dallas with my husband. I did get up and do school with Jasper and felt very noble for doing so. I am taking the maximum dosage of zinc and feeling quite nauseated as a result.

I went shopping to get food for the kids for the weekend. I worked on geography, because geography runs my life, and that won’t stop just because I want to go somewhere this weekend. This week’s geography research has me feeling very nostalgic for my high school days, because Kenya is one of the countries we’ll be covering. Funny how the memories come flooding back when you look at certain pictures . . .

I also found myself pondering a phenomenon that has puzzled me for many years now. You know why I originally got on Facebook? It was because when Mary was a teenager, some students at the university started a hate group on Facebook. What did they hate? Anyone who wore a cloak. They posted hateful and malicious things that were aimed at shaming and humiliating anyone on campus who wore a cloak for any reason.

I felt I had to be on Facebook to see what my kids were up against. And frankly, I was and still am bewildered by it. Why should someone be so offended and outraged by someone else’s outerwear choice? I see people every day wearing things that I think are totally ridiculous, but I don’t hate them or want to hurt them or publicly humiliate them. I just resolve not to emulate them!

Then recently someone started a “confessions” page where people at the university can post whatever they want to anonymously. Out of curiosity, I checked it out and found that it was a repellent hate-fest, much of it aimed at cloak-wearers. Why? How does the fact that someone wears a cloak make someone else so angry and full of spite? And how can you go to an engineering school and not expect it to be full of nerds and geeks? If you are a cloak-hater, please enlighten me. I do not understand this particular prejudice. How do cloaks personally offend you?

Cloaks are so practical and useful. I think the primary reason they are no longer common is that they are admittedly a real pain to drive and wear a seatbelt in. But why the hate? Whatever happened to “to each his own?”

Of course, I really don’t care what people think about my cloak-wearing. I’ve never been mainstream in my life, and I doubt it’ll ever happen now!

Counting Down

Well, I survived another Wednesday, and now there are only 5 more to go! And six weeks from today, Lina will be here! Can’t tell you how thrilled I am about that. Given the fact that I am getting sick, and given the fact that I am exhausted, I thought it was pretty amazing that I made it to co-op classes and didn’t forget anything more important than my flashcards. We even remembered the brownies for the bake sale!

We were in West Africa today, and there were a whole lot of countries to cover in very little time. It’s also very gratifying to see how much more engaged my students are now as compared to the beginning of the school year.

Thanks to Lina, Jasper had a couple of disgusting photos to show his classmates today. They were studying ants, bees, and termites in science class, and I remembered that Lina had once sent us photos of an enormous termite queen that had been dug up near the school in Zambia. I could not find the photos anymore, but I asked Lina about them and she was able to find them and resend them so I could print them for Jasper to take to class! 

I had promised the kids that today we would finally join the stampede over to Chick Fil-A after classes. This is where many of the families go every week, and my kids feel very deprived that we don’t ever do it. They have gotten to go with friends on a few occasions, but I have never taken them before today, because I hate spending money on lunch when we have food at home, and because I am always so eager to get home and collapse.

I think they all had a great time, though I think they were also surprised to discover what an outsider I am in our homeschool group now. I ate alone and then walked over to Walmart to pick up a few things, including some more Zicam because that’s the only thing I’ve ever tried that has worked for me when I have a cold.

By the time we got home, I could think of nothing but lying down, even though I knew I was going to have to go back out to do some banking for Flynn. I had a brief rest before running my errand and then had another rest later before plunging right back into preparing for next week’s Geography class. We are hoping to spend the weekend in Dallas so I really need to lick this cold and get as much prep work done as I can before we leave.

Oh, and the van has some more issues. Hope we can get them resolved before we leave . . .