Well, maybe having to come to the library will actually make me more disciplined to post. I have to come up here all the time anyway because it's right by the closest grocery store and fabric store, not to mention our favorite bookstore. Also it's a pretty good walk and I like to try to do it fast for the exercise. At home I think "Well, I only have a minute" so I don't post much thinking I'll wait till I have more time. But if I've gotten my hour allotment here, by golly I'm going to use the thing up! The librarian is rather a computer despot. Yesterday she came and was scolding me, really scolding me that I was over my time by ten minutes. I could only see the clock from the side and I thought I had five minutes left but I apologized and thought she was probably right. So I got off and looked back and I actually did have five minutes left. After she was standing there saying really loud "you need to get off right now. RIGHT NOW!" Ugh. Shayleen and I laughed about it, but goodness did we have to be so stressful about it? It wasn't as though there was a line of people waiting. There was one guy, but he had just walked in and then he was all embarrassed that she had made such a fuss. Anyway. It got me to thinking about a running list of things I want to make sure I never do when I am old. Here are some of them:

!. Give "drive by" parenting advice to young mothers in public. If I ever say "that baby needs a hat on" to someone I do not know in public, someone please slap me.

2. Wear heavily perfumed powders.

3. Try to act younger than I am. Or dress "young".

4. Have any type of hair coloring that even approaches the color purple or blue. Someone, please tell me!

5. Bring bags and bags of stuff to people because I can't throw things away myself.

6. Use cat decor in any way, shape or form.

7. Lecture my sons or sons-in-law in front of other people or in public.

8. Assume that all the young folks are "up to no good"

9. Give the "well, you're just a young pup and you don't know the realities of life" lecture. Man, that just gets thread worn.

10. Squelch younger people's aspirations, goals, dreams etc. (If they are worthwhile) because I don't think they can or they don't know the realities of the obstacles.


And then the things I plan to do with abandon..

1. Bake cookies

2. Wear aprons

3. Smell like cinnamon

4. Play cards with the gandkids

5. Babysit any grandchildren I get a chance to.

6. Keep myself acclimated to noise as much as possible.

7. Maybe have one or two cats (or dogs) but NO MORE!

8. Have a comfortable house without a lot of breakables.

9. Be available to talk and encourage.

10. Not give criticism too freely, but try to be free with praise and encouragement. (But not flattery)

11. Pray often for those God has entrusted me with.

12. Plant flowers

13. Decorate lavishly for holidays

Well, those are some, I'm sure there are a lot more. Got any to add?

Well, I'm still at the library. (*pout, pout*) We were hoping that a good dusting would rectify the problem on our computer but apparently not. It won't read CD's, won't take the digital camera port and won't sign onto the internet. Basically all I use the thing for, though hubby can still do paper work.. At least for now. I don't know what the next try will be. I hope we don't have to replace the thing. The summer wasn't real fat for the finances (to understate.) and buying a new computer wasn't how I wanted to use the money right now..

Anyhow, I guess in the meantime I'll just make my way up here to check emails and so forth.

S. is on a cookie baking binge. R. will only eat three kinds of cookies, so we haven't done a lot of experimentation. (If you make a kind he doesn't like he gives us what we call his "Paddington Bear Stare". If you make the kind he does.. Well, lets just say he isn't always real inclined to share. :) But S. thought her married life might not include one so picky (She once remarked to me that it would be really weird to cook for a man who didn't come in and take over all the time and add his 2 cents on everything.)and maybe it would be nice to have some other recipes under her belt. So she's been experimenting. She's made white chocolate fudge with oreos, (get those things away from me!) a lime zest, hazelnut shortbread type thingy (those were really good and not so sweet.) a caramel nut bar cookie type thing (those were way too sweet. More nuts, less caramel next time.) and a couple variations of peanut butter (those are one of the three R. will eat so we packed him up with some for work-he went to Washington for a couple days.) Yesterday she wanted more supplies so I let her walk up to the store with my bank card thinking she would get some brown sugar and chocolate chips and she came home with thirty dollars worth of cookie supplies. Gracious!

But what's really fun is watching the little boys watching her bake cookies. She has this little herd of four little boys gathered about her as she goes around the kitchen, tugging on her skirts. "What is that for, are they almost done? Can we have a nut? Can we have a cookie? When will they be done?" on and on. And Babykins is right in there too with the only word he can speak with clarity-"UP!" He knows that's the direction to go I guess.

It must be good to be a little boy who has a big sister who likes to bake cookies. They are all just gazing up at her and she bestows nuts and chocolate chips and cookies like a queen and, for the moment anyway, she is all the bee's knees to them. What a sweet blessing for them to remember. These little details are something to give thanks for and be happy with, even when one is feeling a little put out with computer and other nagging troubles.

I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving and are warm and happy as well..

Can you hear me hitting the thing? WWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Ackkk, no I didn't fall off the face of the earth, My computer is broken. And now this silly library computer won't let me type in the body of the po

I've often seen blogs around the internet that outline what gifts the parents are getting the

wee ones for Christmas. Well, I have a list of my own... This is especially for my little boys

First, we must have a big basket of PVC pipe of all shapes and sizes. These are essential for sticking a little arm through to play robot or to use as knight armor.

Next up, old pots and pans. Especially important are the lids. Those are shields, of course. But the pots are also important for drumming, hiding stuff in, and the pans are handy for hitting your brother. Ooops. Blowing that 'perfect home school family image' again!

This is the tube off my husbands shop vac. Well, not the actual one, but one like it. They need their own so they can play elephant. Also just for plain coming up behind someone and yelling really loud in their ear without getting too close. That's loads of fun! Also, if a little boy wraps it around his shoulder it can be an ammo belt. I have no idea if there are any ammo belts worn around the shoulder, but by the way they swagger it has the look and feel of a real one!

These look like measuring spoons, don't they? Wrong! They are actually keys. And the boy that swipes these from my kitchen drawer and loops them into his belt has all the swagger and authority as the guy who has the keys to the elevator and the executive bathroom. Instant status.

Now this is just all for fun. This is for putting your blocks in and get it spinning really, really fast so you can watch the colors go. Beyond that, I'm not sure. But it does seem to have a never ending fascination. Since I can't usually find mine...

Tongs are very important if you might like to play pirate. They are a step up from a hook if you have happened to have had your hand chopped off in a sword fight.

Yarn. To tie to every conceivable object in sight and drive your mother a little batty. I have to admit I'm a little reluctant on the yarn. But this is self defense, you see. I'm trying to protect my own stash.

And lastly, hair ties. For shooting at people. (Well, I figure they sting a little less than rubber bands.) And fastening little objects to your belt loops-like if you need even more keys.

So there we are. The Blunderbussie household list of little boy essentials. : )

.

I think the hardest thing for me to do on this blog is to formulate an opening sentence!



Have you (those who blog) ever noticed that?

I am very frustrated because my computer won't recognize my digital camera chip port thingy. (Geek I am not.) So now my camera has 154 pictures on it and I can only look at them through the wee bitty window of the camera. Bah! I just bought a new portal thingy too.. I like computers just fine until they don't do what I want them to and then I can't stand them.

So there's an old family picture just because I wanted to put up a picture. Humph. You can tell it's old because J. isn't even in it . I don't know why I.'s nose is all yellow. She looks like she's been smelling dandilions.

I was recently re perusing _Marriage to a Difficult Man_.

"It was customary for girls to marry before they were sixteen. This was realistic in view of the life expectancy in those days (about thirty-three years..."

Isn't that sad? My goodness, even if you married at 15 or 16 you could only reasonably expect to be married for 15-20 years? It makes me feel sad to think of it. We could do better appreciating each other, I know.

Lately I've been a little irked at the tone of voice that creeps in around here. I guess with winter and everyone being inside for hours a day we start getting a little snippy at each other. It is something I would really like to work on.

I got this video from Blog and Mablog and I thought it was really funny. Especially because sometimes this is precisely the message I need to hear myself...

The real purpose of camo.

I always like this picture because it is so moody and fallish. But I always forget about it when fall rolls around.