Goals for Next Week

Goals for the week ending Saturday, April 6, 2013

1.  Continue daily Bible reading--done. 

2. Continue cutting out next quilt top using leftover fabric--done. 

3. Continue Weight Watchers 26 points per day--done. 

4. Laundry Room

          A. Install new blinds--The blinds are here. Now I have to twist JMM's arm to get them installed. 

          B. If picture comes from All Posters, have it framed. --Picture is here & I will take it to Hobby Lobby to be framed on Monday. 

 5. Garden--done. All are doing well especially since we had 3 inches of blessed rain!

          A.  Roses

          B.  Succulents

          C.  Birdbath

          D.  Cucumbers & Tomatoes

          E.  Meyer lemon

6. Reading

     Eaarth by Bill McKibben--skimmed. We are farther along the global warming/climate change road than even old pessimists like me thought. 

     Radical by David Platt--didn't finish. 

     Lydia Cassatt Reading the Morning Paper by Harriet Scott Chessman--finished. Very good. 

     George C. Marshall by Mark Stoller

7. Cook 4 dinners--done. 

8.   Make appointment to get estimate on clock repair--still not done. Good thing this is a 2013 goal and I have 8 1/2 more months to get it done. 

The Diversity of Life by E.O.Wilson

I really should have given this book 5 stars because it is such a complete book on the diversity of life. But I gave it only 4 because it is too complete, each topic worked over and over again until it is just overworked. How many times does it have to be said that we don't know how many species there are?  I hold Edward O. Wilson in the very highest esteem and it makes me very uncomfortable to be critical of him. I just wish that he had been more concise and less repetitive.

A Family of Readers

A Family of Readers

I come from a family of readers. My mother joined the Great Books reading group at Rosenberg Library in Galveston when I was in junior high school. She bought a set of the Great Books for that year. I remember 2 of them well. The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith and a book by Freud but I don't remember the title. Of course, I tried to read them and once I even went with her it the discussion group.  I may not have understood the books but I was comfortable with great books and great ideas from an early age. 

My father was an avid reader too. After his stroke, I carried home many books from the library for him. He was most interested in history, especially World War II.  We all read the newspaper and had a subscription to Newsweek. And we did the crossword puzzle as a group effort every day, always teasing each other as to who was filling in the hard words and leaving the easy ones for others. 

We had an Encyclopedia Britannica Junior. So interesting to just pick a volume and read various entries. JMM had an encyclopedia but his mother bought it in spite of his father's objections and they kept it in the closet where he would read with a flashlight. I don't think they even publish encyclopedias anymore. 

TSM was reading almost before she was out of diapers. She more or less taught herself to read by following along when I read aloud to her.  Her first school frustration was the kindergarten teacher who never caught on to the fact that she already knew letters, numbers, and how to read.  One of our favorite things to do was go to the library and bring home a big bag of books, pile them on the bed, and spend the afternoon reading and eating in bed.

A fun family evening was a run to the bookstore. 

Now that I am retired, one of my great pleasures is having the time to read. 

Typically, I have 3-4 books going at one time. One is usually a science or nature book that I am frequently reading with the Science/Nature group at GoodReads. Another is usually American History or biography.  I almost always have a murder most English under way. And the fourth varies depending on my mood and what good books I've recently heard about.  And speaking of hearing, I love audio books for when I am quilting. I used to listen to them on my way to and from work. You could tell if I had a really good book going because I would drive slower and slower to finish a chapter before pulling into the driveway. 

How fortunate to live in a time and place where books have always been abundant!!

Meditation

Do you cherish your friendships, so that they grow in depth and understanding and mutual respect? In close relationships we may risk pain as well as finding joy. When experiencing great happiness or great hurt we may be more open to the working of the Spirit.

Quaker Advices and Queries

Spring Trip

We have been planning a trip to Washington, D.C. to visit the museums. But I have been hesitating about making reservations because with all the turmoil in Congress over the budget, I didn't want to go only to find the government (and museums) shut down.  Now it is looking now like we will have a (semi-) functional government through September.  So I guess it is relatively safe to go ahead and make our travel plans for early May. JMM pointed out that there will be an exhibition of Durer master works at the National Gallery through June 9.  I am thinking a day at the National Gallery, a day at the Smithsonian, and a monuments day with a travel day on either end.

  I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to my full body frisking at the airport since I am unable to walk through the scanners.  And how I look forward to United crushing my luggage again. But that will all be minor as long as my scooter gets to and from Washington undamaged. 

Goals for Next Week

Goals for the week ending Saturday, March 30, 2013

1.  Continue daily Bible reading--done. 

2. Continue cutting out next quilt top using leftover fabric--done. 

3. Continue Weight Watchers 26 points per day--done. 

4. Laundry Room

          A. Order mats from LL Bean--done. 

          B. Check All Posters for picture--done. 

 5. Garden

          A.  Roses--watered, fertilized, sprayed, & trimmed. 

          B.  Succulents--watered & fertilized. 

          C.  Plant Mexican Sunflowers, Black-eyed Susan, and 2 tomatoes--done by JMM. 

6. Reading

     The Diversity of Life by Edward O. Wilson--Finished. 

     A Cold Treachery by Charles Todd

     Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life by Karen Armstrong--finished. 

     Lydia Cassatt Reading the Morning Paper by Harriet Scott Chessman

7. Cook 4 dinners--done. 

8.   Make appointment to get estimate on clock repair--still not done. 

Iraq - The One Decade Anniversary

Much is being written and said on this unbearably sad anniversary about the totally useless, unnecessary, immoral war that we perpetrated on the people of Iraq. I can hardly bear to read or listen to it.  Words, written and spoken, are so antiseptic, so removed from the horrors, the suffering, the destruction as to be in another world.  I see pictures of Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld and I have an overwhelming desire to tear the picture into tiny pieces and burn the pieces. 

4500 young Americans dead, 10s of thousands with missing body parts and messed up minds, untold numbers of Iraqis dead or injured. 

Here are two of my many earlier blog posts on Iraq and Afghanistan:

1/11/2009

We need to get out of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Now.

I don't have a clue as to what I can do to promote this idea but I am going to start finding out. 

It's a little thing but I sent an e-mail to change.gov

I'm going to find a way to work on this.

10/27/2009

Afghanistan

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/26/AR2009102603394.html?wpisrc=newsletter

One person speaks out against the idiotic war in Afghanistan and it makes the Washington Post. Hallelujah! I suppose I should be grateful for that. But I'm not--I am furious that we are such utter sheeple that we are being led down this primrose path AGAIN. God how I wish we would bring back the draft so that everyone would have a stake in whether to continue this madness or not. How I wish we were forced to pay in full every year what this costs. But of course we won't--we will continue the war because you really don't have to send your children to be killed or maimed and we can continue with our tax cuts and piddling around with health care because we simply borrow more money from China. 

There is no "win" in Afghanistan; we will simply keep pouring more beautiful young men into that bottomless pit and the ones that aren't swallowed up will be sold to the highest bidder to repay all the money we borrowed to finance the war in the first place.

Same goes for Iraq.

Will we continue on the same path of perpetual war? Iran? Korea? I don't know. It makes me sick to think of it.

Meditation

Worship is our response to an awareness of God. We can worship alone, but when we join with others in expectant waiting we may discover a deeper sense of God's presence. We seek a gathered stillness in our meetings for worship so that all may feel the power of God's love drawing us together and leading us.

I live with cats

Bandit

Bandit is our tuxedo cat.  I am convinced that Bandit picked us to be his family.  I remember the first time I saw him, he was sitting in our driveway just outside the garage door. I stepped into the garage and there he was. For all the world, he was sitting there waiting for me to come outside. I was surprised but it was love at first sight on both our parts. I walked over to him, he did not even try to get away, and I picked him up. I took him inside and he purred and looked around. He was probably about 12 weeks old and I have absolutely no idea where he came from. He looked like he was well nourished. No one ever came to claim him. And I sincerely doubt if I would have given him up even if they had. 

Bandit is Mr. Personality. He loves people and always wants to be where his people are. Once, our neighbors gave a big party in their back yard. Bandit sat in the empty lot all by himself watching the party. When my housecleaners come, the other two cats disappear but Bandit sits on the kitchen bar and watches. 

He is very affectionate. Loves to be on my lap or beside me when I am quilting.  He watches me cook and mooches bits of meat, milk, or cheese. 

However, he has one disturbing characteristic. He is a mighty hunter. He loves fresh field mouse and he wants to share his kill. He will bring his kill to the back door, meowing loudly for us to open the door so he can bring it in. We have learned to recognize the sound of the meow that means he is bringing in a kill. I suppose he just likes to eat fresh and local. 

We have come to the conclusion that Bandit is a once in a lifetime cat. 

Goals for Next Week

Goals for the week ending Saturday, March 23, 2013

1.  Continue daily Bible reading--done. 

2. Continue cutting out next quilt top using leftover fabric--done. 

3. Continue Weight Watchers 26 points per day--done. 

4. Bind edges of quilt & embroider initials & year--done.  

 5. Transplant tomato and cucumber seedlings--done. 

6. Reading--done. 

     The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1789 by Robert Middlekauff--Finished. 

     The Diversity of Life by Edward O. Wilson

     For Love of Insects by Thomas Eisner--Finished

     A Cold Treachery by Charles Todd

7. Cook 4 dinners--done. 

8. Laundry room

     What to hang on wall--Have decided to get a poster from All Posters; just need to decide which one.  

9. Make appointment to get estimate on clock repair--once again not done. 

10. Check Hobby Lobby for quilt fabric--done but they did not have the fabric I wanted. But I did find card stock with a parchment look and a frame for a print out of a Money Saving Mom words on how to have a great morning. I finished it and love it right by my bedside. 

Meditation

Be aware of the spirit of God at work in the ordinary activities and experience of your daily life. Spiritual learning continues throughout life, and often in unexpected ways. There is inspiration to be found all around us, in the natural world, in the sciences and arts, in our work and friendships, in our sorrows as well as in our joys. Are you open to new light, from whatever source it may come? Do you approach new ideas with discernment?

Quaker Advices and Queries

Goals for next week

Goals for the week ending Saturday, March 16, 2013

1.  Continue daily Bible reading--done. 

2. Continue cutting out next quilt top using leftover fabric--done. 

3. Continue Weight Watchers 26 points per day--done. 

4. Bind edges of quilt & embroider initials--started but not finished. 

 5. Keep seedlings watered; put them out in sunshine--done. 

6. Reading--done. 

     The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1789 by Robert Middlekauff

     The Diversity of Life by Edward O. Wilson

     For Love of Insects by Thomas Eisner

     The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier--done. 

7. Cook 4 dinners--done. 

8. Laundry room

     What to hang on wall--still can't make up my mind. 

9. Make appointment to get estimate on clock repair--not done; maybe next week. 

10. Check Hobby Lobby for quilt fabric--not done; maybe next week.

Dinner menu for next week

Breakfast is always either eggs or oatmeal and lunch is always a sandwich, leftovers, or leftover soup.  I make soup in quantity and freeze it so there is almost always soup available.
So that just leaves dinner to plan for. Most dinners are things that I've made many times. But there are so many good food blogs that I do find some new things or some ways to change old recipes.

Saturday - Bacon sandwiches, oven fries
Sunday - Roast, carrots, & mashed potatoes, green beans
Monday - Baked fish, oven roasted carrots/thyme, corn on the cob
Tuesday - Chicken Parmigiana , linguini, green beans
Wednesday - leftover roast
Thursday - leftover chicken
Friday - Chipolte

I may make some chocolate chip cookies. I haven't done much baking recently.

Some things I will never understand.

This morning NPR had a segment on how poachers are slaughtering the few remaining forest elephants.

http://www.npr.org/2013/03/06/173508369/elephant-poaching-pushes-species-to-brink-of-extinction

Evidently, there is quite a market for ivory in China.

Sometimes I am just ashamed of my fellow H. sapiens.

Frustration Day

Frustration Day

By age 65 you would think that I would know that home improvement projects will always take longer and cost more than you anticipate. But no, I expected the tile installer to be here not at 11:15 when he showed up but at 8:30 as I was told to expect him.  Then I should have known not to expect the installation of tile in a 5'5" by 10'6" room to be completed in 1 day. No, I will have the washer and drier in the living room for  the rest of the week. Tomorrow we do the grouting and the installation of the quarter round baseboard. Then we get to wait until the grout can be sealed and the quarter rounds painted.  Then I can get the washer and drier out of the living room and actually wash clothes.  Sigh.

Meditation

Do you try to set aside times of quiet for openness to the Holy Spirit? All of us need to find a way into silence which allows us to deepen our awareness of the divine and to find the inward source of our strength. Seek to know an inward stillness, even amid the activities of daily life. Do you encourage in yourself and in others a habit of dependence on God's guidance for each day? Hold yourself and others in the Light, knowing that all are cherished by God.

Advices and Queries

Laundry Room Spruce Up

Laundry Room Spruce Up

For some unknown reason, when we built this house I decided to put indoor-outdoor carpet in the laundry room. For the life of me I can't understand (or remember) why I did this. We had beautiful ceramic tile in the kitchen which opens to the laundry room. Needless to say, it has annoyed me for the entire 9 years we have lived here. 

In making my Goals for 2013,  I determined that this will be the year that the ugly brown carpet goes!! It would have been perfect if I could have found the same tile that is in the kitchen but it was made in Spain and is no longer available. Bummer. But I did find some tile at Lowe's which will look like it is just a smaller, lighter version of the tile in the kitchen. (I hope.). The tile will be installed Monday. 

So I decided that since the washer and drier had to be taken out anyway, I would use the opportunity to paint the room. It is very nice to paint without worrying about drips and splatters since the carpet is coming out Monday. 

I didn't realize that the walls in there were so grungy until I got started painting.  Nice, fresh paint job makes it look so much better!!

After the tile is installed, I still have to measure and order new blinds for the window. And I am thinking of a decal for the blank wall facing the washer/drier, 

http://dalidecals.com/The-Laundry-Room-Lettering-and-Bubbles-Wall-Decals-Graphics-Stickers.html?gclid=CIzSyb-A37UCFWbZQgod2xwAhg 

I am not sure about the decal because the wall is slightly textured and I don't know if it would adhere. Maybe just a nice framed print. 

Anyway, it will be a much nicer, brighter room. 

Goals for Next Week

Goals for the week ending Saturday, March 9, 2013

1.  Continue daily Bible reading. Done. 

2. Continue cutting out next quilt top using leftover fabric. Not done. 

3. Continue Weight Watchers 26 points per day. Done. 

4. Border #8/8 on quilt. Done. 

 5. Keep seedlings watered & put them out in sunshine. Not done. It was either overcast or if the sun was shining, it was too windy to put them out. 

6. Reading. Done. 

     The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1789 by Robert Middlekauff

     The Diversity of Life by Edward O. Wilson

     For Love of Insects by Thomas Eisner

     Watchers of Time by Charles Todd. Finished. 

7. Cook 4 dinners. Done. 

8. Laundry room

     Tile installation. D one. 

     Paint wall. Done. 

     Measure and order blinds. Done. 

     What to hang on wall. Not done. 

9. Make appointment to get estimate on clock repair. Not done. 

10. Check Hobby Lobby for quilt fabric. Not done.