Inspired by a little-known picture book from the pen of Bethany Tudor, this is a diary, of sorts, where I document some of my thoughts, activities, and ideas as I explore the challenges met by the characters in the story: hard work, the care and nurture of others, housekeeping skills, life changes, charity, community, and cooperation, among others. Like Samuel and Samantha, the ducks in the tale, I struggle and succeed, cope and celebrate, work and play, handling the tasks that come my way. I invite you to join me on my journey.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

I Have a Facebook Page

Well, I finally did it. I joined Facebook. All of my friends are on it, especially those who have high school and college students. Most, if not all, of the kids I interact with at Sunday School and our homeschool co-op have accounts on it. People I know aren’t really even using their traditional e-mail accounts to communicate anymore; they are using Facebook. So, out of a desire to remain “in the loop, “ I knuckled under and joined. It’s ok. I still feel rather odd posting updates about the minutiae in my day. It is more efficient than blogging, but I miss the lack of space to write longer articles. Oh, well.

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

An Economic Downturn?

If the market were experiencing a downturn, you would never know it by the number of mail-order catalogs arriving in my mailbox. Today, I received at least eight, one of which was Hammacher Schlemmer. I love this display of merchandise. It is so fun. Just look at the variety of clocks and marshmallow/snowball battle toys:

The Peaceful Progression Wake Up Clock
The Sunrise/Sunset Simulating Clock
The Color Pattern Clock
The Flying Alarm Clock

The 40 Foot Marshallow Blaster
The 40’ Marshmallow Bazooka
The Marshmallow Shooter
The Marshmallow Shooting Shortbow
The 50’ Snowball Launcher

Of course, I would be hard-pressed to buy any of these items. Then again, that Flying Alarm Clock might get my family moving in the morning.

Friday, December 05, 2008

I Love King Leo!

Today, while I was shopping at CVS, I discovered King Leo Soft Peppermint Sticks. They came in a box containing ~30 sticks, each one worth about 45 calories, and I think I have consumed 10-12 sticks since around 4:00 PM. Make no mistake about it, folks; these are incredibly addictive little treats (and I normally get tired of candy cane-like confections pretty quickly). The next best thing about these? The company has a store in one of my favorite places: Julian, California. If you are ever in southern California, don’t miss it --- the town or the store.

Thursday, December 04, 2008

Chicken Soup That’s Tested

Katherine the Great finally came down with the cold that has been circulating through our locale of late. In an effort to keep on top of the nasty respiratory bug, I made some chicken soup for her from a recipe I found online: Grandma’s Recipe from Dr. Stephen Rennard of the University of Nebraska Medical Center. For a PDF copy of the recipe, click here. For the research article, click here. For a video about the tested soup, click below. As of yet, I cannot attest to its effectiveness. I can, however, attest to its flavor: extremely delicious.