Thursday Thirteen #42

Thirteen books about World War II found in the Babystepper bookshelves

Some of these are more in-depth, and some are better for bathroom perusal. I've read most of them, though, and several more than once. A says I'm "obsessed with WWII". Maybe he's right. I did one of my high school term papers about intelligence work that prepared the Allies for the North African campaign (Operation Torch) and in college I did a huge year-long project on two fiction writers who wrote during and about the war. Is this in any way useful? Probably not. At least I know enough now
not to attack countries on both sides of mine. Hmmm. Probably wasn't really an option anyway.

I took actual pictures of my actual books instead of trying to find pictures online, to show that they really are mine and really have spent some time on the blue recliner that is the back-drop for all my fancy pictures. You'll notice that many of them are missing their book jackets. That is because I married a book jacket nazi (err, so to speak) and he can't stand to have book jackets around for some reason. He says they're pointless and redundant. (This is the man who keeps all the cases for his X-box and Wii games [even though we keep all the games in a cd wallet] because he might want to sell them someday and they'll sell better with the case) *sniff sniff* I smell a teensy-weensy double standard.




1. The War: A Concise History 1939-1945 by Louis L. Snyder - I'm not exactly sure how this is "concise" but I suppose the author was comparing it to the six volume set by Churchill mentioned below. I've read bits and pieces of this one, while researching my college project, but it's not really the type that you want to just sit down and read through in one sitting. A bit dry.




2. The Gathering Storm (Volume I) by Winston S. Churchill - These next three are just half of the above-mentioned six-volume work. I only have these three because I just happened to find them on paperbackswap.com (A site I highly recommend, btw) If any of you out there are thinking of spending lots of money on me for Christmas, I would love to have the last three books in this set, or even a complete set of six. You know, either way would be fine. Signed first-editions would even be fine. Just whatever.

3.Their Finest Hour (Volume II) by Winston S. Churchill

4. The Grand Alliance (Volume III) by Winston S. Churchill




5. WWII: The People's Story ed. by Nigel Fountain - This is one of those Reader's Digest coffee table books. I'm not too proud to say that I enjoy these books just as much as the more "scholarly" works. I love the pictures, of course, and this book particularly includes a lot of individual accounts both from soldiers and from the home front.




6. World War II: In Photographs ed. by Richard Holmes - This one too, as it says in the title, is mostly photographs. It does an excellent job of giving information too, and was made in association with the Imperial War Museum, so has many pictures I haven't seen in other places. (This book is pictured above with the next one.)

7. The War by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns - Yes, another coffee table size picture book. This one, however, is the companion to the Ken Burns series also titled "The War". It follows the war fortunes of four American cities and their citizens, so has a completely different approach than the others. If anyone else would like to spend, oh, lots, of money on me for Christmas, the video series and soundtrack would be great.




8. Children of the Storm: Childhood Memories of World War II ed. by Charles Perkins - OK, yes, this one has pictures too, but it's mostly, like it says, accounts of the war written by people who were children at the time. Very interesting, actually. I found this on a trip to Branson, MO with my college Bible study and was so excited. Yes, they thought I was a geek, thanks for asking.




9. Berlin Diary by William Shirer - This is, hands down, my favorite WWII book. I don't know why, really. Even my loving nerd husband makes fun of me for this one. You can see the book has been seriously used. I've read it three times at least. Shirer was the CBS correspondent for most of the time from 1934-1940 in Berlin and occasionally a few other European capitals. He was very astute and wrote about the climate and feeling of pre-war Germany very well. You get a real sense of being in the country.





10. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer - I can't believe I'd never read this before, since I love his Diary (above) so much, but it just never really hit me that it was written by the same person until my Uncle E mentioned it at Thanksgiving. It's a pretty hefty book, though. I'm on page 702 and the war hasn't even started yet. I mean, in Europe. Hitler hasn't even invaded Poland yet. Can we say "detailed"?




11. Secrets and Spies: Behind-the-scenes Stories of World War II by Reader's Digest - This was possibly the book that turned me on to studying WWII back in high school. It was published in 1964, so I would love to see it updated with new information now that time has revealed so much more. It just has lots of short stories about intelligence and resistance during the war, and lets face it, spies are just cool.




12. European Resistance Movements by Trevor Nevitt Dupuy (Col. U.S. Army, Ret.) - The top of this book says that it is Volume 15 in The Military History of World War II. I don't know what happened to the other 14 volumes, because I certainly never had them. I think I found this one at one of those stale cigarette scented used book shops back in college, that sells used furniture in the back. (I know this because our first kitchen table came from there, and it was a pretty cute little table, too.)




13. Paris- Underground by Etta Shiber - I honestly know absolutely nothing about this book, except that, apparently, it involves the underground movement in Paris. I'm sharp that way. I know it's about WWII because the little chain with a broken link logo on the front has tiny little red swastikas on it. I'll get around to this one someday, because I really am interested in the underground movements from this time period. I just, well, you know, don't like France very much. The more I study WWII the less I like them. (Not the people, you understand, the government and military, really.) Sorry if any of my readership are Francophiles... or Francos.

There, now, if you actually read all thirteen of those little snippets, you get a bloggity gold star and my sincere condolences er..congratulations.

Check here for more Thursday Thirteen.

Pictures from Nerdville

Here are the promised pictures. I hope. Thanks for all the picture advice. Actually, A discovered GIMP last night and downloaded it. (Then I read your comment this morning, Attolia, so you reaffirmed our decision. Thanks!) So far I really like it, (It was the "free" part that really grabbed us!) but I'll need to work with it a while to get used to everything. It can already do everything my old program did for me, though. I finally figured out the shrunken picture problem.

This is Tina and C'aunt S. (My husband's cousin) Zaya's being a goober, as usual.




This is C'uncle M (left) and Kergin (right) showing us all up on Guitar Hero. C'uncle M plays the guitar for real (very well) and Kergin has played the game way..too..much, so they're both very good. (C'uncle N is sitting in the background here.)




Here's Mr. Joe and Ms. Tina snuggling with the kids. We keep telling them they should just have their own, since they have so much fun with ours, but I suppose that kind of thing should be left to them to decide. Maybe. They do have a puppy, so that's a start. (Just kidding, Tina. I know, that's annoying.)



OK, I think that's everyone who was there, except A and I of course. Hmmm. I suppose in all fairness I should include a picture of us. Luckily they're kind of fuzzy because the friend who grabbed my camera to immortalize my Guitar Hero stint didn't know which setting to use. (Thanks Tina!) Oh, and yes, in case you wonder, I am wearing sweatpants and no makeup to a party. Thanks for asking. Did I mention I'm not cool?

Party in Nerdville

Last night we had a large group of friends and cousins over. One of them brought his PS2 and all four Guitar Hero games. (And two guitar controllers.)

I've never played this game before, but it really was a lot of fun. I'd like to see maybe a Christian rock version, because the music wasn't exactly to my taste, but the mechanisms of the game themselves were very interesting. I think it would be a lot of fun to play a drum version of the same thing.

Tina and her husband were there, as well as A's three cousins that live in town and one other friend, Kergin. (He was the one who brought the games.) We're a strange group when we're all together, but we have fun anyway, despite the fact that every single one of us has always been just a little bit different than everyone else.

I took lots of pictures, and plan to post those as soon as I can, but the change in computer has left me high and dry on the picture front. I want to be able to resize them etc. and I can't get my old copy of Adobe Photoshop to work.

I'm thinking of looking for a new picture program. Do any of you out there have any advice on which one would be the best?

Checking in

OK, I got a couple pictures of our little Ice Spatter 2007. It's still not very impressive here, but the central portions of our state got quite a bit. At least A stayed home from work, and we still have our electricity, so I'm not complaining. (too much) The picture above is from the roof over our front porch. The back has much more impressive icicles, but I'm not padding out there in my slippers to take those pictures.

The tree below is on down the street a bit. You can see that it and some of the other trees around it have a thin coating of ice.



On a totally unrelated note:

I found this interesting article on Gov. Huckabee from the Drudge Report. So far I really like this guy for the way he stands up to his critics and says exactly what he thinks. I can't help but feel that he doesn't actually have a chance at defeating the democrats, but he's definitely the best bet so far, and will get my vote if it comes to that.

I'm Dreaming of a .....

The young weatherman this morning was almost giddy talking about the BIG! ICE! STORM! that we got part of today. The rest will come tomorrow, but so far I'm unimpressed. The roads are a little slick, true, but it's just nothing compared to the ice storms this area has seen in the past. Maybe other parts of the state are getting it worse than we are, I don't know.

I think it's so funny to watch the young meteorologists around here. Since it's Oklahoma, we attract them because they're all hoping to see/report tornadoes. They have to do something with the rest of the year though, so we have ICE STORM 2007!!!! Which, actually we had last spring, so they need to come up with a different name. Maybe THE WINTER ONSLAUGHT or THE HYPE FEST. Last year during a series of threatening afternoon thunderstorms the excited little weather guy actually said, "I'm afraid there won't be any more storms today...I mean, I'm happy to be able to tell you.."etc.

My "day of rest" started out with an eight o'clock morning handbell practice for which only three members appeared. We didn't get to perform our bell numbers in the service this morning because several of the players out on the farms didn't want to risk the drive in to town. Evening services are canceled, but my meeting and the cantata practice are still happening, so we still have to go back to church at three. Our church didn't cancel this morning, but my parent's church did after several of the parishioners and the pastor (my dad) all slipped on the ice. Before he fell, but after another man had hit the sidewalk, Dad yelled back into the building, "Church is canceled!" Smart guy. Actually, at least one person passed out, ended up in the hospital and could use your prayers.


If I'm gone for a while this week it means my electricity is out and the enthusiastic weatherman was right. Otherwise, hope everyone is having a safe weekend and A restful Sunday.

Mandarin Pooh ("Winnie The", that is)

A is for Apple, juicy and sweet. B is for Basket with good things to eat.

Once again, tonight, I find myself glad that I do not speak Chinese. Why, you ask? Because of a little classic called "Pooh's ABCs". We only have 26 letters in our alphabet. The way God intended it to be, I'm sure. The Chinese, on the other hand, have 47,035 in one of their dictionaries. That's letters, people not words. Definitely unholy. Can you just imagine the children's stories? I think I'm tired by the time I get to "Y is for yellow, sparkly and bright. Z is for zipper; zip it up tight."

Why do these thoughts cross my head every night? Because Mim wants to read the above mentioned curse on mankind every..single...night. Nothing like tradition to keep a toddler going, and woe be unto the knowlessman who attempts to change it.

Another tradition here in the Babystepper household is the Bee-O and Hot too-lockat. As soon as Mim wakes up in the morning or from her nap, she wants to "watch a bee-o and drink hot too-lockat. (The picture above is Mim pre-hot too-lockat) I'll put in a Baby Einstein video for her (am I a yuppy or what?) and then prepare her some hot chocolate, which is actually warm milk with a little Ovaltine in it. (She only watches the video for about 10 minutes; as long as it takes to drain her drink) If I don't get on the ball with the Hot Chocolate the voice of her delicate little majesty reverberates through the house, "HOT TOO-LOCKAT!!!!". She's amazingly docile once she gets it though. Of course, I imagine the ravening lion is amazingly docile once he's gorged himself on antelope and roared the rest of the pride into submission. What's one little Mommy to do?

Actually, there has been amazing, nay stunning, progess on the Mim front this week. Not only is she going to sleep without a bottle (That's right, you heard it first here, folks) but she has worn panties all this week. That's right, big-girl panties. WOO-HAA! Triumph! Exultation! NO MORE DIAPERS!! WAL-MART, YOU WILL NOT DRAIN MY WALLET AGAIN!!

Okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration. I think I can always find something to waste my money on in Wal-mart. Diapers or no diapers.

Oh, and don't worry C'auntie, I didn't let her drink chocolate with that beautiful quilt on. It was just for the photo shoot.

My Mommy Says....

This Wednesday on our way to church I had to explain to Zaya that he probably should wait until after Cubbies (the pre-school Wed. night program) to be Ice-Zay. He was disappointed but took it quite manfully. I can just imagine the looks on his leaders' faces when he ran up and turned them into ice and then zoomed back off again. Actually, I have no guarantee that he hasn't already done that. Or worse.

Do parents ever stop worrying about what their children are doing or saying to other people when they aren't around? Now that both of mine are talking well I have entered a whole new field of stress. It reminds me of something my parents used to tell me when I was just a young whipper-snapper myself. (Is that how you spell that? I'm not sure I've ever seen it written.) As I entered the house or car of a person with whom I would be unsupervised, they would say, "Don't tell them everything you know, honey." Which meant, "Please, please, please don't embarrass our socks off, OK, because your little friend is one of the deacon's daughters and we will never hear the end of it if you don't keep your mouth shut."

I didn't really understand that last part until I became much older. Our family has all sorts of stories of the embarrassing things I said to friends and strangers. Now, I suppose, I'll have those stories myself. Scary thought.

Christmas Present Quandries

In an effort to embrace my children for who they are (look at me being all post-modern), I've decided to get them things that they will like instead of things I think they need, or need to work on.

I'd like to get Mim a set of Wedgits, as she loves all things blocks and building and these look like a fun twist on the basic idea of blocks.

For my little gaming shepherd (Zaya), I'm thinking about a nice comfy bean bags for: lambs, snuggling with and games, playing of. I have no idea where to go about finding a good beanbag, though.

Any ideas from you other mommies out there? What kinds of things did you get your kids for Christmas when there were in the 2,3,4 range of age.

Thursday Thirteen #41

13 Interesting Numbers from the Bathroom Reader

Almost every word that follows was shamelessly swiped from Uncle John's Slightly Irregular Bathroom Reader. Because I'm just classy that way.

1. Times, on average, a person swallows during a meal: 295

2. Pounds of fish a pelican can hold in his beak: 25

3. Pumpkins grown in Floydada, Texas, every year: 1,000,000 (My brother was born there. Weird.) (The irony, not my brother.) (OK, my brother too.)

4. People in airplanes at any given time: 366,144

5. People booked for "offensive gestures" in Germany in 2003: 164,848

6. Pieces of paper the IRS sends to taxpayers every year: 8,000,000,000

7. Pounds that 8 billion pieces of paper weigh: 32,000,000

8. Calories consumed during one hour of typing: 110 (Ha! See, I am working.)

9. Islands in the Indonesian archipelago: 17,508

10. Steps to the top of the Empire State Building: 1,860

11. Pages the average bathroom reader reads at a "sitting": 2.7

12. Banana slugs that were eaten in a California slug-eating contest in 2002: 50

13. Chromosomes the average human has: 46 (the average cabbage has 18)

Check here for more Thursday Thirteen

In other news, I don't have my whole picture thing figured out quite yet, so you'll just have to cope with the lack of visual stimuli.

Coup D' Etat

We got a new computer, so I'm going to be working on transferring today. All my pictures, songs, etc are in the old one, and I'm not even sure how to start the whole transfer process.

Oh, and I've also got a cabinet full of dishes. Full.

Therefore, I will post something interesting and insightful as soon as I've got the switch figured out, the dishwasher loaded, and my kids off to college. (I know, you're asking, "Why start now?")

Gamers United

This morning Zaya told me, "Mom, I will never play a video game again." Which was his way of saying, "See, I'm a good boy and not obsessed with games." I told him that of course he could play his games again. Mommy doesn't mind if he plays games, just if he only plays games. He was very glad to hear that he wouldn't have to stick to his statement. Right now he's watching a video, which is a whole different kettle of fish. I think I prefer the games, actually.

I've had a lot of nice responders to my previous post (several by e-mail) and I just want to say I appreciate how all of my family is concerned. Not a single person agreed with me, in essence, that I should worry about Zaya's video game consumption, so I suppose I don't feel so bad now.

Just wanted to say, "Thanks", and judging by the heat of some of the responses, I am definitely in a gaming family.

That Little Japanese Plumber Rules my Life

As we entered the church building last Wednesday I told Zaya, "Honey, please don't talk to everyone about your new video game tonight. I'm afraid they probably don't care about it, really, and would rather talk about something else, OK?" The first person we encountered was our Pastor, to whom Zaya said, "Guess what?!? We just got SUPER MARIO GALAXY!"

I think we have a problem.

On the way to Great-Grandma's house for lunch today, my son announced, "Today Mario, Yoshi and Pikachu are coming to grandma's house with me."

Yup. We have a problem.

How do you de-tox a 3-yr-old from Nintendo? I know some of you out there (i.e. the non-gamers) are saying, "Don't let him play anymore games you pathetic excuse for a mother." But it's not that easy. I don't feel right just completely removing all his games, when it's something he truly loves to do. I don't mind him playing them a little bit each day. I just mind him obsessing about them constantly.

I always tell him that if he plays video games all the time he will grow up to be a very boring little boy that people will not want to play with. (I know, I've already got the Motherhood Sensitvity Award. Don't even offer. My mom gave me hers.) He counters this cogent argument with the following. "When I play video games all day long, I am very exciting." Maybe if he only ever makes friends with pixels.

What's a Mom to do?

p.s. Grandma, Mario is a plumber, and the games are made in Japan. That's what the title means.

ESL Craziness

They're, their, there; I'll, aisle, isle; two, too, to; due, do, dew; through, thru, threw.

Not to mention read and read, live and live.

Why have we done this to ourselves?

Today was our first ESL (English as a Second Language) class. I have three students. Two of them are women, and the other is an older gentleman. I've been friends for a long time with one of my students, (the one who's about my age) and the others are her friend (about ten years older than us) and her husband's grandpa (in his late seventies). The two ladies know a little bit of English already because they have kids that are in the school system, but el anciano does not know very much at all. Tricky for class time.

We're using the Laubach method, which is apparently a popular one. I don't know if I'm crazy about it, but then it's only been one session, so I probably ought not judge it yet.

I speak a little Spanish, so I tend to talk to my students too much in Spanish. This was my problem with teaching my friend, in the past. She taught me Spanish instead. I'm doing better this time since we have actual curriculum and instructions.

We did have some interesting discussions, though, about the whole issue of learning another language. They were saying that English is frustrating because there are so many words that sound the same, but have completely different meanings, or mean the same, but are completely different words. They also have issues with our spelling. I tried to reassure them that we, too, have issues with our spelling, and that many native English speakers never get comfortable with spelling.

I'm glad we're finally having these classes officially, (under the aegis of the OK Literacy Council) but every now and then I ask myself, "Self, what have you gotten us into?"

Thursday Thirteen #40

13 Things on my amazon.com Wish List


1. Best of the Muppet Show : Elton John, Julie Andrews, Gene Kelly
I grew up in a real Muppet-fan family, and who doesn't love Julie Andrews and Gene Kelly? (Elton John, not so much)

2. Viva la Repartee:Clever Comebacks and Witty Retorts from History's Great Wits and Wordsmiths
Actually there are a whole lot of "word" books on my list. This is just one of the many. This particular one always makes me think of Attolia. (I'll share it with you if I get it.)

3. Deluxe Breadmaker
I'd like a breadmaker that actually bakes bread. They're great to use on the dough setting, but I'd like one that makes good bread.

4. Norpro Bread Slicer with Crumb Catcher
To go with the bread machine above. Those huge loaves can be very difficult to slice evenly, and this looks like it would help. Now, where would I put these things?

5. Emergency Crank Radio
We live in tornado alley, and our town's electric lines are notorious for going out at the worst possible times.

6. The Snowflake
This book has beautiful pictures of snowflakes. I think all of us are fascinated by the complexity and beauty of snowflakes on some level. (There's also a calender that would be cool.) (get it?)

7. Auto First Aid Kit
I like to be prepared for things. I always pack too much junk when we go on trips on the off chance that we might need some of it. If I knew this was in the trunk,it would keep me from packing quite a bit of stuff, I think.

8. Robin Hood (Disney)
This is possibly my favorite childhood movie. I would love to own it and let my own kids see it someday. (I forced A to watch this when we were already married because he had never seen it before.)

9. Love and Logic
This is a parenting book that several people have highly recommended, and anyone who reads this blog regularly know I could always use some parenting help.

10. Unicycle - I asked for a unicycle repeatedly as a child, but Mom always said, "NO." I asked her if I could have one this year and she said no again. She thinks I'll get hurt. Where's the faith, I ask you? Am I the child who had to have my own accident policy since toddlerhood? No. Am I the child who had to go to the emergency room all the time? No. Those would both be my brother. I'm the trustworthy eldest. Remember Mom?

11. The Complete Earth
This is a really cool atlas with satellite images of every place on earth and several image maps in all the different seasons.

12. The Second World War
Actually I already have the first three books in this set. (Some poor sap had put them on paperbackswap.com) but I need the final three.

13. Presidential DoodlesTwo Centuries of Scribbles, Scratches, Squiggles & Scrawls from the Oval Office
Doesn't this sound like it'd be interesting to see? I wonder if Roosevelt doodled bombs and Reagan doodled dollar signs and Clinton, err, never mind.

Check here for more Thursday Thirteen.

SuperDay

Today Zaya announced to me that I was SuperMom, and he was GeyserZay. We asked Mim what she wanted to be, and she said, "a blalaly" (butterfly) and proceeded to flit around the house saying, "bly, bly, bly." (fly) To each her own. Speaking of which, how 'bout that fashion sense, eh? I can honestly say she gets that from me.

Zaya, or, should I say, GeyserZay, proceeded to discover New York and most of New England. We had been missing them for about an hour. He discovered them at two different places in the couch. (puzzle pieces, just in case you wondered) When Daddy got home Zaya said, "We solved the Mystery of the Missing States!" Which just tells you how much influence we stay-at-home moms have on our hapless young children.



I rearranged my living room today and set up the Christmas tree. I think I like it better this way, actually, and I'll probably leave it rearranged after Christmas. I'll show a picture sometime. You know, when I'm not too lazy to take my camera all the way in to the living room and snap a picture, and then bring it all the way back into my room and upload it onto the computer. Whew. It makes me tired just writing all that. I think it's time for my bath. Good night, y'all.

Sock it to Me

My neighbor friend, Tina, has this thing with sock monkeys. I'm not exactly sure how it got started, but for a while now she's made sock monkeys for the children of her friends and relatives. She uses those big thick hiking socks, which make for some cute, rugged (and well-insulated) monkeys.

Zaya got his Tina-made sock monkey when he turned two, and now Mim has one too. She's having lots of fun with it, and it's now part of the sleepy-time menagerie on her bed. Anyway, all that to say....

Thanks!!

or, as Mim would say...

Tanks!!

Thanksgiving Food and Song

Two Thanksgiving dinners down and one to go. I am full. Too full. I just drank a glass of egg nog, though, because, well, it was there in the refrigerator and was calling to me in a silky smooth, beguiling kind of way.

Yesterday, on T-day proper, we had a soup lunch with my husband's maternal side. It was all delicious, and a nice change from the turkey and ham, which I knew we'd be having enough of the next day. (today)

A's family is a very interesting mix of personalities, as most all families are, I suppose. It was great to see everyone who could come, and also a bit of a sad year, as A's grandparents are ailing and this is the first Thanksgiving when we picked them up from the nursing home to come join the festivities. One of A's uncles is also battling cancer, and that, too, made it an especially meaningful year as we all thought about the changes in the last year and what the future might hold. The picture above is from that meal. In the foreground my mother-in-law and sister-in-law (C) plan their attack for an early morning shopping expedition while A and my brother-in-law (C's husband) try be a restraining influence.

My mother's family all got together today at the church my father pastors. (The parsonage is right behind the church, so we rented the church kitchen and fellowship hall for the family.) It's always interesting to me how similar my mother's family is to A's mother's family, mentioned above. Both families had six kids, and both of our grandfathers have had similar interests and abilities through their lives.

As we all got ready to leave tonight, we gathered around the piano while Auntie M played "I Know Whom I Have Believed" and "Great is Thy Faithfulness". It was wonderful to hear everyone singing, and two thoughts struck me most as I sang.

The first is that those two songs define very well my Grandparents and the six kids they raised (and their grandchildren and greats too, I hope.) My Grandpa P was a missionary for a long time in Mexico, and has spent the rest of his life in the service of God. I can't express to you how much respect I have for the wisdom and strength of my Grandparents. They have been faithful through so much, and passed down their love of Christ to the rest of their family.

The second was that I missed very much hearing my Grandpa P's voice. He was there, and sang with us, but quietly. He's lost much of his hearing over the last few years and doesn't feel like he can sing with confidence anymore when we're all together. He has a wonderful voice, and he and Grandma passed down their ability to sing beautiful harmonies to almost any song, simply by hearing what ought to be there and putting it in. I will never forget what Grandpa's singing voice sounded like for all these years, but I certainly missed hearing it tonight. Maybe next time I'll make it a point to stand right beside him so I can hear it again.

Thursday Thirteen #39

Yes, we all saw this one coming...

Thirteen Things For Which I'm Thankful

If I were a good blogger I would've taken the time to write something meaningful about each one, but let's face it. It's Thanksgiving morning and, frankly, I have better things to do. Maybe I'll revisit this post later and explicate. All the meaningful things are first, you'll notice. There is a marked inanity line; again, no apologies.

1. My Savior

2. My spouse

3. My children

4. My family

5. My in-laws

6. My friends

7. My freedom

8. Quilts

9. My house

10. The Internet

11. Books

12. Chocolate

13. Dr. Pepper

Check here for more Thursday Thirteens.

My Quilt

I received my quilt from C'Auntie J last week, and I have to show you a picture. I think I'm going to put it in Mim's room, because she has a lot of purple in there already and it just looked great with her curtains.

Thanks C'J!!

I've come to the realization that the handicrafts are like the arts to me. Eternal mysteries. I greatly admire women (and men) who can create things from yarn, thread, fabric, wood etc. but I will never be able to emulate them. I try periodically with frightening results. This is my official announcement.

Super Soup

These are the faces of men in love. I know, it's easy to mistake this kind of love for brain-dead stupor, but it's different. Those of you with loved ones that are addicted to gaming will recognize the symptoms. My husband bought Super Mario Galaxy last week, and he and Zaya have definitely been enjoying it. A says that it's the first game that he's played in a long time that makes him smile. Zaya is scared by some of the things in it, but then he's three, and is occasionally frightened of things in Veggie Tales episodes, so don't take that as a demerit for the game. I recommend it for any of my relatives out there who are contemplating Wii games. It's a very original layout and has a lot of creative levels and games to play.

Switching gears....

I'm looking forward to seeing family soon. There will still be quite a few people who are too far away, but at least we'll get to see some of you guys. My mother-in-law has decided that our Thanksgiving with her family (she's one of six kids) is going to be soup. We'll have four or five different kinds of soup plus breads and desserts. I think it sounds great, because, well, I like soup. And it's not like we won't be getting lots of turkey and ham from other places. Also, it's going to be COLD on Thanksgiving day. The high today was 80, which, granted, is unseasonably warm for the end of November, but still. The high on Thursday is supposed to be in the 40's with freezing during the nights around then. Ugh. Oh well. I get to break out the sweaters. I love sweaters. Oh, and soup. The soup will definitely be nice.

What are the rest of you planning for your Thanksgiving celebrations? (Look at that desperate plea for comment love. How can you resist?)

Right Brain: Left Brain

It's funny how different my children are. I know, that's not news to all of you out there. (That kids are different, I mean) It's just funny to see how those differences play out.

Zaya has always been more inclined to words and games. He loves video games and has since he was very, very little. He could play all day, I think, if I would let him. He also liked videos (Baby Einstein type) when he was very little. He would sit and watch them, mesmerized, when he was small. He learned his numbers and letters early and enjoyed games with words. He's able to read now too, which is fun to watch.



Mim, on the other hand, is not interested in video games. She says she wants to play, but the concept of what she is supposed to be doing is still absent. She says she wants to watch videos, but she is easily distracted and back at my legs whining for attention before long. She does like to sing the alphabet, but misses quite a few of the letters. She doesn't recognize her letters by sight, yet, or her numbers really, where big brother could do both much earlier. However, she was interested in drawing, play-doh, painting and building much earlier than Zaya. She could draw circles at about the same that Zaya could (They're a year and a half apart) and enjoys the whole process of art in a way that Zaya never has. She loves to build with blocks. If I can talk Zaya into playing with blocks at all he just makes letters out of them, or color patterns. Mim will build symmetrical shapes. She likes her buildings, houses and towers to be absolutely even on every side. She can also make a perfect pyramid (she made the one in the photo). She was also very quick to manipulate things like bottle lids. She could twist them off when she was just a baby, and Zaya still hesitates about trying to open anything that will require twisting.


OK, I know that didn't interest anyone else but me and maybe a few relatives, but since I spend every day, sunrise to sunset, watching my children, it's something that's often in my mind.

It will be interesting to watch their school careers and their life career choices in the future, knowing the aptitudes they did or did not display at this early age.

Fall Fun

When the kids and I were outside "Widing Twikles" (That's riding tricycles, for the uninitiated.) our neighbor boy, Carl, asked the kids if they wanted to come jump in the leaf pile he had raked. They did and made all sorts of fun discoveries, like casings from dead bugs with pincers the exact distance of a small boy's nose . Mmm. Lovely.

Just so you know that he really didn't mind that...thing...being there, here's a picture from the same time. I just like the first one best because of those big ol' baby blues.

Thursday Thirteen #38

13 Things You'll Find in My House

Some of these are small space solutions, but most of them are just weird things I keep around because I like them, and, let's face it, I'm weird.

1. Command Strips - I love these things, and you will find them all over my house They are one of the greatest inventions of modern time. Really. This particular one is stainless steel, so it holds a little less weight but looks better. Most of them are plastic or plastic with a metal hook. They stick onto your walls, cabinets etc, and leave absolutely no mess behind when you're ready to take them off. True love, I'm telling you. Oh, and Downy balls were also a fantastic invention, just btw.




2. Souvenirs - My mother brought back two thimbles for me from a vacation she and Dad took. One of them is from Paducah, Kentucky and the other is from Metropolis, Illinois. (The one from Metropolis is about Superman. Get it?) I received the third thimble from Tina when she went to Tennessee. It's got Elvis on it. There's nothing that says, "I have no life" like keeping mementos of the places that other people have been. Along that same line, but a little different, is the fan in this picture. It's a souvenir my Grandpa C brought back from WWII. The shelf itself was made by my great-grandfather, I think, and has been with me for as long as I can remember.



3. Doubled-Up Bookshelves - I have never understood those pictures in magazines of a bookshelf with a few trinkets and about five books on it. I don't think I have ever, ever had enough bookshelves. (And I have given away, I promise, at least 8 boxes of books since we made the most recent move. Probably more.)



4. Amethyst Geode - This was a graduation present from my Aunt MP. I've dragged it from house to house ever since, and it now resides on the windowsill above my sink. It used to be above my bed, but one of the kids came this close (imagine my fingers pinched together) to knocking their Daddy unconscious with it one morning. (I intervened before contact was made, so no harm done.)



5. Teeny-Tiny Spoons - These were given to me by one of the hostesses (I think) at my wedding shower many moons (7 yrs) ago. They say, "Dash, Pinch and Smidgen" from largest to smallest. I don't know that I'll ever use them, but they're just so cute I can't get rid of them. They hang with my other measuring spoons and a spaetzle maker on command strips.



6. Tassels - What do you do with the tassels after graduation? I use them to open cabinet doors. The blue and white one is from my high school, and the orange and black is from my university. (OSU) I don't know why I haven't thrown these things away years ago, but there they are. I think I'll put them with the Christmas stuff this year, like I used to. They make better ornaments than door knobs, I guess.




7. Over-door Junk Bag - Our bathroom is about the size of a postage stamp. Really. OK, not quite; those special edition commemorative stamps can be pretty big. Anyway, in the absence of a nice, big cabinet I've got this bag hanging over the door. It holds all sorts of odds and ends. Beautiful? No. But do I care? No.



8. Magazine and TP holder - There isn't actually enough room between our toilet and our sink for a roll of toilet paper (Well, not without having to lean out to pull on the roll and then lean back.) This is on the wall opposite. It holds our reading material and our TP in one handy place. I know, Tina, the idea of reading material in a bathroom grosses you out, but we wouldn't get much reading done in this house if we weren't able to seek the peace and solitude of the bathroom. (I have to use the lock to get aforementioned solitude, but a Mom's gotta do what a Mom's gotta do.)



9. Animal Rope - When I was very little my mother made a long rope out of macrame and we tied all my animals to it. When she mentioned it to a parishioner at their church, the lady went home and made this rope for Zaya with the colors of his bedroom and even beads with his name on them. We finally got to hang it up when we moved to this house again this summer. It has ribbon for tying the animals on that goes around their necks. The stars you see painted around the top were done by Grandma Lilibeth before Zaya was even born.



10. Fan Socks - They have the cutest fans at Lowe's. A special kind for any room you might want. However, then you've got this little girly-girly fan or baseball fan or whatever and you'll have to change it out in just a few years when your daughter decides she hates the color pink. So my mom and I discovered these fan socks at Lowe's. You just stretch them over the blades and snap them on top. They're also machine washable. Zaya has blue ones with stars in his room. A and I thought about going with Disney Princess theme in our room, but we left our blades plain wood in the end.



11. Mixer Doily - Yes, there is a doily on my mixer. Why? I don't know. I have to take it off every time I use it. Where do you put a doily, though?



12. Toothpaste Solution - See, here's one of those command strips again. We use it in conjunction with the little squeezy bar and get the toothpaste tubes off the sink area. (Have I mentioned my bathroom is small?)



13. Pom-pom Bucket - Another local mommy gave me this idea. We use the pom-poms as rewards by letting them act as a sort of family currency. For instance, one pom-pom equals 10 minutes of screen time or one piece of candy. They do different things to earn them.



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So Long and Thanks for all the Fish

My son came out of the bathtub with two imaginary dolphins. He didn't go into the bathtub with them, so all I can figure is they came out of the faucet with the warm water. Anyway, they must be amphibious dolphins because they followed him out of the bathtub and into bed. He informed us that they're both boys, and their names are Laygo and Supervisor. In fact, their full names are Supervisor Laylo Clays and Laygo Peescades. As A reads Zaya and Mim their stories, one or the other of the dolphins will chime in with a comment. Zaya will say, "That was Supervisor saying that." Laygo gave Daddy a goodnight kiss, so it appears that they are polite and lovable dolphins, which is for the best, all things considered.

Speaking of polite and lovable, something Mim learned just now is that you say, "Excuse me" not "My just tooted." I suppose that's a lesson we all need to bear in mind.

A-B-C

I'm discovering the pros and cons of having a child who can read. The pros, of course, are that this opens up a whole world of joy and discovery and yada, yada, yada. More importantly, it means he can read books to his sister, like in the photo above, and Mommy gets a little break.

The cons are that, well, he hasn't quite figured out what he should and should not read aloud in public, and it's more difficult to hide things from him. For instance, when we had our trip to the zoo last month, he knew about it SEVEN DAYS in advance. That was way, way earlier than I had planned to tell him. I repeat, in case you didn't catch the full implication, my son knew we were planning a trip to the zoo for SEVEN. DAYS. BEFORE. WE. LEFT. The conversation went something like this.
"Z-O-O, Z-OO ZOO! ZOO! Mommy, the calender says ZOO!!!!!" Except with more excitement. Then we had seven days full of "Are we going to the zoo today?"
Another downside to the whole reading thing was brought home to me in the grocery store today.
"B-U-D. BUD! Hey, Mom, that big sign says BUD! What is BUD?"
At least I wasn't buying the actual product, but only passing it in the aisle. I think we should switch back to shopping in the store that doesn't carry alcoholic beverages.
I guess I should just be glad it wasn't a big sign that said K-O-T-E-X.

Randomness from a Random Mind

Mim still tends to say words backwards, which just amuses me no end. She's really hilarious sometimes. For instance, nightwear. If I call them "Pjs" Mim says "GPays". If I say, "Pajamas" Mim says, "Jumpamas". It's so cute that I'll have to try to get a video, because I know you're all dying to hear her yourselves. Or you should be, because it really is very cute. Every night when I put them on her she says, "My go show Daddy my Jumpamas! Dey Bewwy Cute!" There's a girl with her priorities straightened out. Oh, also, every Sunday morning and Wednesday evening, when I put on make-up, Mim gets a little lip gloss and runs in to see where Daddy is and makes a "pip pip" noise with her lips so he'll comment on her big girl lips. He learned pretty fast what she was showing him.

Other than that, there's not a lot of thrilling excitement here this week. A is still working on the siding, and it's looking great. I'll take a picture as soon as he's done. I'm still avoiding work by blogging, napping (when I can, you know how that goes) and otherwise entertaining myself and wasting these precious years of my life. I suppose I've done a little housework too, when absolutely necessary. (ie We're out of cups to drink from or my husband yells from the bathroom that he has no clean underwear.) Oh, speaking of which, I have trained that man so well. The other day I was griping to him about my general malaise this week (of the heart, not the body) and he said, "Well, you know..." and then stopped. He told me, "I'm going to just stop right there so that I don't offer you any solutions. I'm just listening." While that's not as good as if he'd never mentioned a solution at all, at least he finally begins to understand that delicate thing that is the woman's soul. It only took seven years, too.

Oh, and a piece of news that really deserves a blog post of its own, and will get one someday, is that my new Aunt H has finally been given permission to come live in the States. She and my uncle have been dating for years, and they got married last year when he made another trip to the Philippines. It took a long time and several run-arounds with their respective governments, but now they will finally be able to live together here, (here in this country, that is, not here in Oklahoma) and we're all so excited for them. I can't wait to meet her and welcome her into our crazy family. It feels a little bit weird to be getting a new aunt when I'm at the ripe old age of almost 28, but I don't really mind.

Thursday Thirteen #37

13 things everyone should know how to do from The Experts' Guide to 100 Things Everyone Should Know How to Do. This book was put together by Samantha Ettus. She basically went out and found 100 people to write a short summary of how to do something. I'll try to give an idea of the variety in my brief list of topics and the people who are writing about them. You'll have to buy the book to get the actual information. (Or borrow it from a loving relative. Yes, I will pay to ship it to you if you're interested.)

How to:

1. Wash Your Hair - Frederic Fekkai- A famous salon owner and hairstylist to the stars.

2. Remember Names - Gary Small- A UCLA professor and author of books about aging and memory

3. Speak in Public - James Wagstaffe- an attorney, a professor of law, and an author of books on public speaking

4. Care for a Houseplant - Jack Kramer- an expert on plants and author of the Easy-Care Guide to Houseplants

5. Make Tea - Mo Siegel- the founder of Celestial Seasonings and author of a book on herbs for you health

6. Change a Tire - Larry McReynolds- a former pit crew chief with many successes to his name and now a broadcaster for Fox Sports

7. Barbecue - Bobby Flay- A very popular chef and author of many cookbooks, including several on grilling.

8. Arrange Flowers - Jim McCann- CEO of 1-800-Flowers and author of several books about flowers.

9. Buy a Diamond - Ronald Winston- CEO and president of Harry Winston (which I guess has something to do with diamonds)

10. Hold a Baby - Bill Sears- father of eight children and the author of more than thirty books about childcare. Also a professor of pediatrics at the University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine.

11. Bake Chocolate Chip Cookies - Debbi Fields- founder of Mrs. Fields Cookies and the author of many cookbooks.

12. Smile for the Camera - Katie Ford- CEO of one of the world's leading modeling agencies, Ford Models.

13. Sew a Button - Susan Khalje- The host of a series called Sew Much More on the DIY network, also the author of several sewing books and the founder of a school on sewing.

Meow-Baa

Ladies and Gentlemen, we introduce you to Vivian-Cat. "But that is undoubtedly a large, bloated plush sheep," you say with confusion in your voice. Ahh, but that is where you would be wrong. This, according to Zaya, (And he ought to know) is Vivian-Cat. She is officially a cat now, for reasons that only the toddler knows. She's been sliding around the house meowing and cuddling and generally being cat-like. It's very confusing for a poor grown-up mind like my own, but not unusual at all for Zaya and Vivian.

Suddenly this morning he decided she was a sheep again. "Zaya's Mommy, did you know that I'm a sheep again?" she asked me. I told her I missed having her around as a sheep and she said, "Yeah, so that's why I'm a sheep again." (Well, Zaya had to translate for her.) We live in a crazy world here in the Babystepper house.

I tried, really

I think I'm backing out of my NaNoWriMo commitment. It's not that the task is too difficult, I've just lost the will. I don't really like my characters and I don't like anything else about the story so far. It's not interesting. I'm bored just thinking about it, so I can't imagine anyone else being interested in reading it. I know I should just start over, then, but I have no ideas. None. Everything seems boring and nebulous. I'd say this little 4,000 word foray into fiction has been a humiliating experience. Not in the normal sense of the word, maybe, but in the sense that it has caused humility (or self loathing and pity, which is sort of a deformed and ghostly shadow of humility).

They say you're supposed to write what you know, and I've decided I just don't know enough yet. I've experienced very little trouble in my life (which is not a complaint, mind you, just a comment) and I know only a limited set of facts and people. I guess it just boils down to the fact that I have nothing pertinent to say. I feel like a total failure and limpet on the hull of society, but there it is.

I hope that I will still be able to write fiction at some point in the future, but right now I'm just not ready. It's makes me sad, but it would be even worse to limp along and write absolute garbage just to fill my word quota. I don't think I could do that without hating myself. All that to say, I guess I'm not participating anymore. I'm kind of depressed by the decision, but nothing like I would be after writing 50,000 words of drivel.

Magic what?

We got a dryer, in a round-a-bout way, from the local thrift store. You know you're not exactly living among the elite when you up-grade to a Magic Chef dryer. I'm not kidding. That's the brand name. Magic Chef. Above is our old hotpoint, which was becoming more of a warm or burning-rubber-smell point. And here is our new classy Magic Chef dryer, which is drying its first load as we speak. We'll see how it all goes.



More interestingly, here is a picture of my children from the annual costume parade at the nursing home here in town. Mim was a butterfly, and Zaya was a (very flexible) horse. Or, as they called themselves, a blalaly and the horse-boy. Mim is wearing the same wings that the camofly had on in the previous post, and Zaya is wearing the costume we bought at the townwide garage sale.

Am I a writer yet?

Well, I'm now 2,387 words into my first novel; a gripping tale of a young (college age) Oklahoma farmer named Timothy and his efforts in solving a local crime in which he has inadvertently landed himself by discovering the body. I promise not to regale you with his exploits. I'll only tell you that the story will eventually involve illegal immigration, which makes it a bit of a combination of two of my ideas from last week's Thursday Thirteen.

OK, I know that most of you read this blog to see cute pictures of my children, so I'll also include this photo of the rare camofly who flitted into our house the other morning to hug Daddy goodbye before work.



I can't promise to post any long meaningful posts this month, because I have to write 1,667 words a day to meet my NaNoWriMo challenge. (50,000 words by November 30) I'm already behind, but my eyes are killing me, so I'm going to have to quit for tonight. Ugh. Computers.

Trucky Kisses

My mother always wants to get books and other imaginitive/educational toys for my children. This tends to be my style as well. My father, on the other hand, thinks Zaya needs some manly toys, like dump trucks and tractors and train sets. Last time Dad won out and brought Zaya a flashlight shaped like a semi truck. What could be more manly than that?

Zaya has named his light "Trucky" and lets him talk to the rest of us. Whenever Trucky talks, his little light blinks with the words. It's so cute, but not exactly manly. Trucky gives great kisses, too. Here he is kissing "Baby". Sorry Dad.

Thursday Thirteen #36

13 Demotivators from despair.com

This site provides posters, mugs, notepads and lots more for the workplace. They all have great pictures, but instead of the usual inspirational drivel, they have slogans for the real life in the office. I've actually had some these up at my workplace before. (Back when I used to work, that is.) If you're already feeling bummed today, you might not want to read any further. If you're in a good mood, go for it. The pictures have a lot to do with the slogans, so follow the links too.

1. Adversity - That which does not kill me postpones the inevitable.

2. Cluelessness - There are no stupid questions, but there are a LOT of inquisitive idiots.

3. Dare to Slack - When birds fly in the right formation, they need only exert half the effort. Even in nature, teamwork results in collective laziness.

4. Despair - It's always darkest just before it goes pitch black.

5. Fear - Until you have to courage to lose sight of the shore, you will not know the terror of being forever lost at sea.

6. Get to Work - You are not being paid to believe in the power of your dreams.

7. Futility - You'll always miss 100% of the shots you don't take, and , statistically speaking, 99% of the shots you do.

8. Give Up - At some point, hanging in there just makes you look like an even bigger loser.

9. Individuality - Always remember that you are unique. Just like everybody else.

10. Laziness - Success is a journey, not a destination. So stop running.

11. Meetings - None of us is as dumb as all of us.

12. Mistakes - It could be that the purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others.

13. Stupidity - Quitters never win, and winners never quit, but those who never win AND never quit are idiots.

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