If Only!

Lately, I have been crazy busy with homeschooling and keeping up with some other goals I set for myself in 2008. Consequently, I haven’t checked the LiveStrong Blog on a regular basis. I did surf over there this morning, though, and found this entry, “Luke Armstrong’s Invention of the Day.” For those of you who may not know, Luke is Lance Armstrong’s oldest child. Apparently, Luke’s school has a cool program that Lance tells about:

...the kids have to sit down and think of an invention and write about it. Part of the fun is getting to draw their inventions on these shirts. So when I got home, Luke was wearing the T-shirt...

So, I said, “Luke, what’s up with that T-shirt?” And he said, “This is my invention. It’s a pill that cures cancer. You put the pill in a cup of water and it fizzes and bubbles. You drink the water and it cures the cancer.

The delivery system for young Mr. Armstrong’s cure reminded me of those old Alka-Seltzer commercials where the gentleman with indigestion sings “Plop, plop, fizz, fizz. Oh, what a relief it is.” What a relief it truly would be if the cure for any type of cancer were as simple as drinking a glass of water. If only!

Nice work, Luke. And, by the way, I like the t-shirt.

Release the Hound!

Congratulations to the owners and handler of the cutest beagle ever --- Uno! The quality of this AP video from YouTube isn’t the greatest. If you would like a clearer specimen, try this link. I was unable to post it here on Gooseberry Lane because embedding was disabled by request.

DYK? Flu Smarts

Do you know how to keep yourself from getting sick with the stomach flu when the virus knocks down your entire family? Here are some ideas from Dr. Weil.com. This advice comes from the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology:

1. Wash your hands often or use hand sanitizers containing at least 60% alcohol.

2. Disinfect surfaces (like doorknobs, light switches, and faucet handles) with a cleanser containing bleach.*

3. Wash raw food before eating; don’t eat food prepared by someone who has been sick until they have been symptom-free for 2-3 days.

4. Wash laundry in hot water and dry on high setting.

5. Quarantine sick family members; disinfect what they use.

6. Keep your house clean; disinfect surfaces regularly.

*I use this Shaklee product instead of one containing bleach, even though such use is contrary to the above recommendations. Please note: there is no evidence that a non-bleach product kills the norovirus that causes stomach flu. To be certain that the virus is eliminated, a product containing bleach is preferred.

Worst Places to Live (for Christians)

Earlier this week, I read an article on The Christian Post website that listed the top ten worst places to live if you are a Christian. No big surprises for me, although I would have expected India to be a bit higher on the list given some of the recent violence there.* Here are the top thirty countries from Open Doors USA. They are listed in ascending order and categorized by level of oppression:

Severe Persecution
1. North Korea

Oppression
2. Saudi Arabia
3. Iran
4. Maldives
5. Bhutan
6. Yemen
7. Afghanistan
8. Laos

Severe Limitations
9. Uzbekistan
10. China
11. Eritrea
12. Somalia
13. Turkmenistan
14. Comoros
15. Pakistan
16. Qatar
17. Vietnam
18. Chechnya
19. Egypt
20. Zanzibar Islands
21. Iraq
22. Azerbaijan
23. Libya
24. Mauritania
25. Burma (Myanmar)
26. Sudan (North)
27. Oman

Some Limitations
28. Cuba
29. Brunei
30. India

*To read more about the persecution of Christians around the world, visit Persecution.org.

Keep Learning

VeloNews.com reported last week (click here for article) that the Johann Bruyneel Cycling Academy was underway in Albuquerque, New Mexico, hosting sixteen young cyclists under the tutelage of Bernard Moerman. The goal: to provide a bike racing education that each rider can then use to negotiate a professional cycling contract. Stated another way: to raise up the next generation of competitive cyclists.

Part of the training? Ride in all kinds of conditions:

Morning temperatures in the low 20’s haven’t exactly made for vacation-style riding. On Tuesday, with black ice spotting the roads, Astana cancelled its planned team ride...All 16 Bruyneel Academy riders, however, suited up for a three-hour ride.

Another part: build a team:

When riding tempo, each group takes a turn rotating at the front; when a squad member flats, his whole team squad stops and paces him back to the group.

Driving behind and alongside the group, Moerman barks instructions, which riders dutifully relay through the group. “Stop sprinting! Ride steady! Keep it tight?”

When one squad neglected to stop for a teammate who flatted, Moerman pulled the whole group over...

And, finally, the plan for each rider, as articulated by Mr. Moerman:

“Don’t blame yourself for not knowing. Blame yourself for not learning.”

I like that philosophy!

Happy Groundhog Day!

Question
How did February 2nd ever come to be known as Groundhog Day?

An Answer
from “The Official Site of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club”

The groundhog tradition stems from...beliefs associated with Candlemas Day and the days of early Christians in Europe, and for centuries the custom was to have the clergy bless candles and distribute them to the people. Even then, it marked a milestone in the winter and the weather that day was important.

According to an old English song:

If Candlemas be fair and bright.
Come, Winter, have another flight.
If Candlemas brings clouds and rain.
Go, Winter, and come not again.

According to an old Scotch couplet:

If Candlemas Day is bright and clear.
There’ll be twa (two) winters in the year.

- snip –

The Roman legions...brought this tradition to the Teutons, or Germans, who picked it up and concluded that if the sun made an appearance on Candlemas Day, an animal, the hedgehog, would cast a shadow, thus predicting six more weeks of bad weather...

Pennsylvania’s earliest settlers were Germans and they found groundhogs in profusion in many parts of the state. They determined that the groundhog, resembling the European hedgehog, was a most intelligent and sensible animal and therefore decided that if the sun did appear on February 2nd, so wise an animal as the groundhog would see its shadow and hurry back into its underground home for another six weeks of winter.

The 2008 Prediction of Punxsutawney Phil
Six more weeks of winter

Plush Duck Groundhog Day Tradition
Watch the movie “Groundhog Day” with my family

A Guy Thing

Today, at the bottom of the accumulated mail and catalogs on my kitchen island counter, I found the March 2008 issue of Fine Homebuilding magazine. Technically, this periodical belongs to King Richard, but I enjoy reading a column entitled “Great Moments in Building History.” These are usually pretty hilarious and pertinent to my life (or to some event in the history of my marriage). This month’s article, “My $14,000 Lamp,” was no exception.

A short account of men and the tools they require to make household repairs, the author had me at this paragraph:

After an intensive month-long search for a replacement part turned up nothing, my husband said, “You know, I could make that part. I just have to buy one tool.”

How many times have I heard that mantra?! I have a hydraulic jack, jack stands, and various small auto-repair-related tools in my garage that were purchased under the auspices of “I just need one more tool.” Fortunately, none of them set me quite as far back financially as this poor woman:

The next thing I knew, a 2-ton, $12,000 lathe was being delivered to my husband’s workshop.

And, not surprisingly, once this awesomely necessary tool was delivered, the much anticipated replacement part did not materialize. Why? What woman hasn’t heard these words in answer to that question?

“You don’t understand,” my husband said. “This is just the basic lathe. Now I need accessories.”

Oh, ho! I should have guessed that was coming...along with the tale of delivery trucks that dropped all those boxes of “accessories” on the author’s doorstep. I can so relate to this scenario. I just spent the last three weeks waiting for various and sundry parts to arrive so that King Richard can improve my hot water system.

But the best part of the entire article, the part that made even my husband howl with laughter, was this:

I felt trapped in a male version of the children’s classic If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. If you give a man a lathe, then he’s going to want a collet. If you give a man a collet, then he’s going to want a chuck. If you give a man a chuck, then he’s going to want a reamer...

Of course, my husband says that this holds true of women as well. If you give your wife a new refrigerator, then she’s going to want a new microwave. If you give your wife a new microwave, then she’s going to want a new kitchen. I don’t see the similarity in these arguments at all. Nope. I think it’s a guy thing.

How Encouraging!

A few years ago, I subscribed to some daily e-mails from FlyLady.net, hoping the gentle reminders would guide me through the monumental task of decluttering my home. Well, FlyLady is still encouraging me, even though I am “fluttering” miserably on my way to flying. I will get there...eventually...someday.

During January, I was supposed to conduct what FlyLady calls a “Super Fling Boogie.” For the uninitiated, that is where I “fling” (or throw away) any unwanted/unneeded items that have been lying around my house. As you may have guessed, I didn’t toss much of anything. However, some “Flybabies” did. Here is a sampling from the list of weirdest items that got tossed, quoting from the FlyLady website:

Today I flung 2 giant, practically human sized “Kiss-Kiss” Bears that were raffled off at a local Hallmark store a few years ago...The 2 that I decluttered are about 4 feet tall and when sitting together and “kissing” take up an entire loveseat.

Today in my fling fest I found a dried up grilled cheese sandwich up in the soffit in the living room. One of my children had flung it up there approximately 25 years ago! Yikes!!! There were also some children’s vitamins they had fired off in a straw they used as a pea shooter.

One huge antique solid cast greasy iron printing press from the 1920’s-1930’s from our basement. It weighted 1500 lbs. Had to be carted off using a roll back with a wench. It was too heavy for 3 strong men to lift. I can’t believe the empty hole that it left!!!!

The weirdest item I have flung was probably the box of wedding stationery and programs that was in our storage unit...leftover from my husband’s first marriage in 1998!!!!! He had no explanation for why they were still hanging around...I got a chuckle out of finding them and flinging them...It was like throwing his ex-wife in the trash!

Super fling boogie in my kitchen: 2 cans of diet shakes, 11 YEARS OLD!!!!!

I feel better knowing that I am not the only person in America with weird stuff in their house. The only difference between these individuals and myself is that they actually threw their weird stuff away AND they were brave enough to divulge what it was. Congratulations, Flybabies!

Quoting Again

From Book Three: Chapter 1 of Mere Christianity:

Morality, then, seems to be concerned with three things. Firstly, with fair play and harmony between individuals. Secondly, with what might be called tidying up or harmonizing the things inside each individual. Thirdly, with the general purpose of human life as a whole: what man was made for…

And this:

You cannot make men good by law: and without good men you cannot have a good society.

Another Quote from Mere Christianity

Yet another interesting bit from C.S. Lewis, one that I so totally agree with:

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I am ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic --- on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg --- or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is,the Son of God: or else a mandman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.

Too Smart for Me

It’s no wonder squirrels got into my attic! My daughter wants to know how the second guy got that candy bar. Not my find. Thank Scot McKnight over at Jesus Creed.

Much Ado Podcasts

This semester, I am facilitating a Shakespeare class for our homeschool support group. As part of the class, I created a blog that the students can use to get reading assignments, schedules and, sometimes, extras that I think they might find interesting. Today, I found this great site from the United Kingdom that has podcasts of every act of Much Ado About Nothing (the play that the class is currently reading), plus interviews with the characters and the director of the production. If you are in the mood for a little diversion this evening, check it out.

DYK? Super Oatmeal

How’s this for math:

Oatmeal + Orange Juice = Superfood

Apparently, oatmeal and orange juice have a synergistic relationship. From RealAge.com:

The phenols in oatmeal and the vitamin C in OJ both help make LDL more stable --- and that’s a good thing, because the more stable LDL is, the less likely it is to rupture, stick to artery walls, and cause [a heart attack]. But consume the phenols and vitamin C together and they’ll stabilize LDL at twice the level expected from adding their effects together.

A shameless plug from the Plush Duck: if you would like healthy tips like this delivered to your e-mail account, check out the Real Age website for yourself.

Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.

Dated Advice

This morning, I asked my daughter to browse through Betty Crocker’s Cooky Book in search of a few more interesting recipes to add to my Rudolph Club plan. During her inquiry, she found the following statement:

Those on weight reduction diets or diabetic diets should be under the care of a physician and should follow his directions. Artificial sweeteners have proved a boon for those on this type of diet and recipes for baked foods made with the sweeteners are available from the manufacturers. You may also want to consult the State Board of Health (if your state has one) or the American Diabetic Association for diet recipes.

The idea that, in 1963 (the year the cookbook was published), some states didn’t have a Board of Health amused my daughter greatly. I wonder, did Connecticut have a State Board of Health in 1963? If you know the answer, please leave a comment. Many thanks.

A Quote from Mere Christianity

Yesterday, I began reading Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis for the CHOOSE CT High School Book Club. I am only one or two chapters along, but already I found this thought-provoking idea:

Progress means not just changing, but changing for the better. If no set of moral ideas were truer or better than any other, there would be no sense in preferring civilised morality to savage morality...In fact, of course, we all do believe that some moralities are better than others.

- snip –

The moment you say that one set of moral ideas can be better than another, you are, in fact, measuring them both by a standard, saying that one of them conforms to that standard more nearly than the other. But the standard that measures two things is something different from either. You are, in fact, comparing them both with some Real Morality, admitting that there is such a thing as a real Right, independent of what people think, and that some people’s ideas get nearer to that real Right than others.

An Awesome Cookie Press

Yesterday, as part of my January 2008 Rudolph Club activities, I made Snowflake cookies with my daughter. Now, these were no ordinary snowflake cookies. They weren’t the kind that you roll out and then use a cookie cutter to achieve the desired shape (a task made incredibly easy by my beautiful, functional, multi-sized snowflake cutter). No, these were the kind of cookies that required the use of a cookie press. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with this tool, it looks like this and functions thus, quoting from Wikipedia:

A cookie press is a device for making pressed cookies such as spritzgebäck. It consists of a cylinder with a plunger on one end, which is used to extrude cookie dough through a small hole at the other end. Typically, the cookie press has interchangeable plates with holes in different shapes, such as a star shape or a narrow slit to extrude the dough in ribbons.

For years, I had the same type of cookie press that my mother used when I was a child. Yes, it was an older model, but had always produced perfect cookies for my mother (the pastry chef) so how hard could it be? It required the operator, after filling the press with dough, to set the bottom of the device against the cookie sheet and turn a knob on the top of the unit while watching to make sure just the right amount of dough was extruded. Too much dough and the cookie would look “fat,” as if it had “melted” in the oven; too little dough and the cookie would look like the runt of the litter, if you will; like Goldilocks with her porridge, just the right amount of dough would create a firm, well-formed delight. Needless to say, this took a little training and it seemed that no matter how hard I tried, I always ended up with “fat” cookies (and it usually took a while for me to get them in that condition). Such positive reinforcement, of course, made me avoid pressed cookies like the plague.

Then, about two years ago, during a fit of frustration, I searched online for a replacement cookie press and found this, the Marcato Biscuits Cookie Gun. Yesterday was the first time I had used it and what a joy! Easy to load, easy to use, and FAST! I was able to press out two dozen cookies in less than thirty seconds. Whoever designed this thing was (is) a genius! If they handed out a Nobel Prize for kitchen equipment, this guy (girl) would definitely get my vote. Pressed cookies are no longer a nightmare at my house. I could make them every day. Hurrah!

RC: January 2008

This year, as part of my New Year’s Resolutions (NYR: Christmas/Holiday), I decided to participate in a book and movie club through the website Magical Holiday Home. Each month, the organizers of this club select one Christmas book and one Christmas film for members to read and view. Then, on the 25th of the month, those who so choose can go to the Rudolph Club forum (on the aforementioned website) to share their thoughts about what they read and watched. Since I don’t generally have (or make) time to do that, I chose to share my critiques here instead. The selections for January 2008 are given below.

BOOK
Rover Saves Christmas
by Roddy Doyle

Written for the 9-12 year old set (at least according to Amazon.com), I actually had trouble getting through this little tome, possibly because I am a traditionalist or possibly because I am a grown-up, or both; I’m not sure. At any rate, I could not relate to Rover, the dog with “a brain the size of Arizona tucked into a head the size of a baked potato,” who sold his poo and urinated on cars as a fundraiser for the neighborhood kids (yes, you read that correctly). Nor could I appreciate the revisioned portrayal of that icon of secular Christmas lore, Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, as a narcissistic, middle-aged hippy wearing a bandana around his antlers and spouting lines like:

“Look, man, next year, maybe. It’s a mid-life thing. I need a rest.”

Or

“But that’s it, man,” said Rudolph. That’s all it’s about these days. Presents, presents, presents. They’re spoilt, man. The kids these days. They don’t even say thanks.”

I had trouble as well when the poo-selling pooch replaced the flu-stricken Rudolph on Christmas Eve, no doubt qualified for this position by his superior entrepreneurial expertise. He is a dog. Does Santa not employ backup reindeer for such emergencies? Surely, Comet or Dasher or another member of the sleigh-pulling team must have fallen ill at some time throughout history. Please tell me the man who is organized enough to deliver gifts to all the children on earth in one night is not so foresight-challenged as to lack a back-up team. Please tell me it isn’t so. Please!

So much for my opinion. The review on Amazon.com describes the book this way:

Captain Underpants fans and like-minded kids (and grownups) will appreciate such respect for their intelligence --- and their sense of humor.

I am so obviously not a member of this demographic; else I would have enjoyed Rover Saves Christmas. I just think that if you want to raise kids who believe in the “magic” of Christmas, you need provide a narrative that will reinforce that “magic,” and I am not convinced this book contributes positively to that goal.

Sheepishly recommended, but only for teenage boys who may enjoy the “poo” humor. Plush Duck Rating: *****

FILM
“All I Want for Christmas”
starring Harley Jane Kozak, Jamey Sheridan, Ethan Randall, & Thora Birch

Much, much better than the January book selection, this film had all the elements that I love in a Christmas movie: sparkle, lots of traditional decorations in the scenery, and characters that convincingly believe in the magic of the holiday, even if it is only from a secular perspective. Better yet, the film also had sibling characters who love each other, demonstrated most pointedly by an older brother who watches over his younger sister not only by taking her to see Santa, but by attempting to make her most heartfelt Christmas wish come true --- reuniting their divorced parents. Accomplishing that goal is the crux of the tale...and antics are certainly part of the process.

A recipient of the Award of Excellence from the Film Advisory Board, “All I Want for Christmas” is definitely a family-friendly film with no profanity that I can recall, no children in abject rebellion, and nothing more than pecks on the cheek amongst the teenage love interests. Boring? No. Refreshingly innocent. Perhaps that is why I had trouble finding it. The movie was nowhere to be seen at my local library; nor was it available on Netflix. It was also missing from my local Walmart and my neighborhood Blockbuster. It was available at Walmart online but, in the end, I purchased it from Amazon, something I don’t always like to do sight unseen. In this case, however, it was money well spent.

With cameo appearances by Lauren Bacall as the grandmother and Leslie Nielsen as Santa. Release date: 1991. Highly recommended. Plush Duck Rating: *****

NEW COOKIE
In addition to the monthly book and movie choices, my daughter and I decided to experiment with a monthly Christmas cookie recipe as well. That way, by the time December rolls around, any new favorites will already be on the cookie list, and no one will be asked to sacrifice a traditional favorite for something unusual or unexpected. The January cookie:

Snowflakes
from Christmas-Cookies.com

Yield: 66 cookies
Supplies needed: Cookie press

Ingredients
1 cup butter
1 3-ounce package cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
2 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350° F. Cream together butter, cream cheese and sugar. Beat in egg yolk, vanilla and orange zest. Sift together flour, salt, and cinnamon. Gradually blend flour mixture into butter mixture. Fill cookie press. Form cookies on ungreased cookie sheets. Sprinkle with colored sugar, if desired. Bake 12 to 15 minutes. Remove at once to cooling racks.

Note: the orange zest in this recipe can be quite overpowering, so use caution.

Highly recommended. These little lovelies all but vanished from my kitchen within a day. They never even made it into the cookie jar. Plush Duck Rating: *****

On a Happier Note

Our friend Joe just rescued this guy from oblivion. His name is Hoagie. He is a Bassett Hound puppy.

Farewell, Mrs. B

It has been a rough week on my old street in Fairmont, Minnesota. On Sunday, little Kasey Cae Scheff passed away. She lived in the house where I grew up. On Wednesday, one of the neighborhood moms, who was also a good friend of my mother, passed away at St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester.

I can barely remember when Mrs. B and her family moved to Fairmont. According to her obituary, it was in 1970. I would have been nine years old and in third or fourth grade at that time. Her youngest daughter was in my class at school. We were all in Girl Scouts together --- Mrs. B, her daughter, my mother, and me. I did music; her daughter did swimming. I moved away after graduation; her daughter stayed in town. I had one child; her daughter had more. I haven’t seen her daughter for years, but I did see Mrs. B when I was home for my dad’s funeral. She was about 77 years old at the time and still her jovial self, sharp wit and keen sense of humor still bright. Frankly, she seemed almost unchanged from our summer camp days, just a bit older.

I can also remember going to Mrs. B’s house once in awhile, almost always with my mother, to see the latest quilt project. Mrs. B had the largest machine-quilting device I have ever seen, even to this day. It took up one entire side of her family room and then some. I always imagined making a quilt and bringing it to Mrs. B so she could finish it for me --- quickly --- so I wouldn’t have to spend hours (or months or years) quilting the project by hand. I never did make that imaginary quilt and, even if I did so now, I no longer have the luxury of taking it to a beloved neighborhood mom so she could perform the task that I was too lazy to complete.

My mother told me recently that on the first day of school in the fall, after the children were all safely delivered up the one-block hill to our local elementary school, the neighborhood parents (read mothers) would gather for coffee and go house to house, sifting through sandboxes for items that had been missing since the end of the previous school year --- spoons that filled buckets, forks that were used to decorate the sides of sandcastle creations, muffin tins that were excellent molds for fortresses against invading sandbox soldiers. One by one, the neighborhood mothers who must have participated in this annual ritual are passing into history. Another one departed this earth on Wednesday. Even though I don’t think about it much these days, I do miss them all. Their humor, their talents, and the love that they had for each other is a precious example of community that I have yet to see duplicated. I thank God for each one of them and look forward to seeing them in Heaven.

If you would like to read the obituary for Mrs. B, click here.

Study Bucks Revisited

The other day I posted a note about a program that the Georgia public schools plan to try to increase the classroom performance of their students, that of paying them $8.00 per hour to study. Well, guess what? In my area of Connecticut, that is the same wage rate as a cashier at the local supermarket. Noticing this, I began to muse about some of the particulars of the Georgia plan:

- will the students who participate in the “study for money” program get a weekly “paycheck” from the program sponsor?

- will the students’ “paycheck” be subject to payroll taxes?

- will the students be considered recipients of a “welfare” program, recipients of a grant, or will they be defined in some other way?

- will the program be staffed with monitors to ensure that studying is actually occurring or will the students be on the “honor” system? And if monitors are supplied, who pays for them --- the public school or the program sponsor?

- does the program have any criteria for disqualification, such as a minimum GPA that must be maintained?

Oh, and one other piece of information that may interest my readers: minimum wage in Georgia is $5.65 per hour, so the students who participate in the “Learn & Earn” program will be making 137% of minimum wage. The equivalent rate in Connecticut would be $10.46 per hour...for students to be doing what they are supposed to be doing --- studying.

Just a few thoughts that crossed my mind on the way home from the grocery store.