Less Than 100 Days!!!

As you will see by the date below, I started this entry several days ago. Being busy with homeschool coursework and the support of Katherine the Great in her opera internship, I haven't had time to write. Now that I am sitting in my car outside the local dance studio, I thought I would finish this off and get it posted.

Today (9/16/08) marks exactly 100 days until Christmas. Given that the United States is coping with the aftermath of Hurricane Ike and the fallout from yesterday's financial news (the collapse of Lehman Brothers), I am guessing that most Americans haven't thought about the holidays yet. I have...and so has my young friend, Alexia, who works at a local restaurant. We both purchased our first Christmas gifts this week. I wasn't planning to start my holiday shopping this early, but one of the regulars on my gift list let slip the smallest of clues about something she wanted and would never expect to receive. Fortunately, the item was available online for a reasonable price, so I bought it and had it shipped to the house. It is already labeled and queued up for wrapping in the storage box at the end of my bed.. This year, I have decided to wrap my gifts as they arrive/are purchased in an effort to avoid that mad rush of wrapping toward the end when I would rather be baking or enjoying the company of family and friends.

Later...OK. So, obviously, I wrote that before the proposed bailout of AIG (American International Group). I am now thinking that many Americans, rather than not thinking about Christmas at all because it is too early, may actually be looking ahead to Christmas with a feeling of apprehension. I know I am beginning to consider a scale back plan, one that is a bit more radical than my original scale-back plan. One tool that is helping in this area: the Family Values Worksheet. Check it out at OrganizedChristmas.com. Here are some of my answers (see below). I also started working on a Master Gift List to see where I can conserve on my holiday gift-giving.

So, what you are doing to prepare for the holidays?
----------------------------

What went well for your family last year?

I would say that the positives for Christmas 2007 were
- the early completion of gift shopping
- the financial ability to give generously to our friends and family members
- timely shipping of distance gifts to Florida and Minnesota family and friends
- an easy Christmas meal that was delicious and prepared ahead, especially breakfast
- my success at getting the Advent wreath set up, even though I was unable to stay on track with daily devotions

What stresses did your family face? Were there too many activities on the calendar?

Stressors during Christmas 2007:
- Hubby traveled for work until the week before Christmas
- we put up and decorated the Christmas tree very late
- some in the household had minor illnesses that slowed our holiday preparations a bit
- we had an extremely full calendar of music performances

While the latter did add more stress than most families endure during an average holiday season, what with a cantata at church and four or five handbell concerts, the rewards of celebrating with many different people in many different venues are well worth the effort.

Was your family spiritually invigorated by the holiday celebration? Did you participate in appropriate worship, service, or giving activities?

This is a difficult question to answer for the other members of my family; however, I can answer if for myself. I felt spiritually renewed. Kate and I did some Advent devotionals at home and the entire family attended Christmas Eve service for a cantata (Kate was performing). I did a short Crossways International Bible study on the "real" story of Christmas. It was great because I learned a lot about some of the Middle Eastern traditions, etc. that are not generally understood in the "traditional" Christmas story as told in America.

As for our giving, we donated to Samaritan's Purse by making an Operation Christmas Child shoebox.

What would you have done differently last year?

I would have done the same thing I should have done every year --- decluttered my house!!! That said, I also would have:
- picked up the Christmas tree a few days earlier
- done more holiday cookie baking ahead of time
- done more freezer meals ahead of time
- purchased a small chest freezer to hold the "do ahead" food
- actually written Christmas cards and sent them (which I haven't done for several years)
- made more of a point to get together for dinner with friends (which depends on my house being decluttered)

If we could only do three things to celebrate Christmas, what would they be?

Mom:
- tree tagging & decorating
- gift giving (small scale, if necessary)
- Advent devotionals

Daughter:
- tree tagging & decorating
- gift giving
- Christmas menu item: baked eggs

More Exciting Opera News

My daughter had her second opera rehearsal last night, plus her first reception. She met the principals, those individuals who are singing the major parts, and she was fitted for her costume, a beautiful hunter green dress from the Metropolitan Opera costume department. I won’t even attempt to describe it here, as I was not privileged to see it. However, Katherine the Great says it looks like what I would typically think of as a “medieval” dress: it has leg-o-mutton sleeves, the square neckline, and a Tudor-era headband-style headdress to complete the ensemble. Needless to say, she is psyched! I can’t wait to see her in it. Now all she needs are some shoes and a necklace. Maybe I should ask Grandma. She used to do costuming for the college theater in her younger days. She might have some interesting ideas as to how we can pull off some accessories. Hmmm....

Life around here gets more interesting by the minute.

When Is a Candidate Ready?

This morning, I was watching some election coverage when one of the commentators mentioned that he didn’t think Sarah Palin was ready to be President if, God forbid, anything happened to John McCain. I have heard folks say this about Barack Obama too. Considering that many people do not want a “Washington insider” to lead the country, a label that implies all kinds of experience working in Washington, D.C., my question for discussion is this:

What exactly makes an individual ready to be President?

The Constitution enumerates these qualifications in Article II, Section 1:

- must be a natural born citizen
- must be at least 35 years old
- must have lived in the United States for 14 years

Any ideas? Thanks for your input.

McCain campaign website
Obama campaign website

The Internship Has Begun

Last spring, Katherine the Great (who had only taken voice lessons for about seven months at the time) was offered an internship with a local opera company, singing as a chorus member. She filed the required paperwork in August and, yesterday, had an orientation meeting with the lady who takes care of the administrative tasks. Thirty minutes later, costume measurement sheet and rehearsal schedule in hand, her internship had officially begun. On the way home, I asked her how she was doing with the music. Current status: the first chorus piece is down cold. She sang part of it for me. Do you know who cool it is to have your Subaru filled with “live” opera music? I still have to pinch myself that my child has such a great voice. It truly astounds me. Best of all, I had nothing to do with it. It is totally her!

Catching the Bus

It is 6:45 AM and it is the first day of school for the 2008-2009 academic year. The bus that transports students to the local high school is about to stop a quarter-mile from my house. Thankfully, the school district scheduled two stops; one is a short walk in a northerly direction (6:52 AM); the other is a short walk in a southerly direction (6:50 AM). The distance is the same, regardless.

Do I know the whereabouts of my high school student? Yep. She is in bed! Oh no, she has exactly five minutes to catch the bus! Argh!!! What am I going to do? Well, because classes at the local high school don’t actually begin until 7:30 AM, I am not too worried. I am also not worried because I don’t need to be. You see, my family homeschools and the school year at “Home Education Academy” doesn’t begin until next week; and when classes do get up and running around here, the plan is to hit the math books about the same time the local kids hit the bus so my student can leave for three hours of organ and piano practice at a church 15-20 minutes from my house.

So, you see, the student who lives here still has to catch the bus. It is just that the bus looks more like a kitchen table (or a Subaru). I love homeschooling!

Fortune Cookies

Been away for awhile decluttering my house and preparing for yet another year of homeschooling. Tonight, my husband grabbed Chinese food for dinner and, as usual, the restaurant tossed in those fortune cookies. Now, I am not a believer in fortune telling, but I do wonder about the history of the practice of including fortune cookies with a meal. If anyone has information about that, I would love to hear more. In the meantime, here are the King family fortunes for tonight:

Don't take life too seriously. Laugh and smile at it once in a while.

No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings.

Education is what survives when what has been learnt has been forgotten.

Courtesy is contagious.

Find any interesting tidbits in your Chinese food lately?

Now My Air Conditioner is Dead

Have you ever experienced one of those months where everything (or almost everything) you own seems to break? A while back it was my laptop computer. Then it was the two Firewire external hard drive enclosures that my husband purchased in an attempt to rescue the hard drive from the deceased laptop. Today, it was the air conditioner...on one of the most humid and uncomfortable days of summer thus far. Ugh!

Since my sinuses abhor humidity and his euthyroid state dislikes heat, it didn’t take long to study the available Internet dirt on the latest air conditioners. A little reading and we were off to Bernie's for a look-see. Nope; that air conditioner was too expensive, even with the Connecticut “Turn in Your Air Conditioner” rebate. Next up: Lowe’s; that air conditioner was the wrong model. Finally, Home Depot; that air conditioner was just right, so Papa Bear and I bought it before Goldilocks could say, “Maybe you should shop around a bit.” One gross, sticky afternoon later and the house is back at 70°F. Praise the Lord!

If civilization ever implodes, I am in big trouble because I am way too dependent on air conditioning. Stay cool.

Avoir, Steak & Ale

My girlfriend from Florida (2ravenhairedbeauties) informed me yesterday that the Bennigans restaurant in her area closed abruptly. I have no Bennigans in my area so I was unaware if the chain was struggling financially. Apparently, they were. As of a few days ago, all the company-owned Bennigans stores closed, as did all of the company-owned Steak & Ale restaurants. The Houston Chronicle had this to say:

... MetroMedia Restaurant Group confirmed that its subsidiary, S&A Restaurant Corp., had filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation. All corporate locations of its well-known storefronts, including Bennigans, Steak & Ale, and Tavern, will be shuttered for good.

- snip –

MetroMedia will continue to operate its Ponderosa and Bonanza steakhouses, the company said in a statement.

Strangely enough, I lost my local Ponderosa many years ago. It is now a Japanese restaurant.

To read more, click here.

Thank You, Mr. Bentley

Apparently at least one CBS News reporter has been assigned to cover the comings-and-goings of Senator John McCain in his bid to be the next President of the United States. How do I know this? Because I found this on the CBS News website:

McCain Cancels Trip to Louisiana, Heads to Ohio to Campaign with Lance Armstrong

The reporter? Mr. John Bentley. Thank you, sir, for covering this news event. I am tired of hearing about Senator Obama and his trip overseas. How refreshing to know that someone is paying attention to the other candidate. Yes, folks, there are two men running in Campaign ’08.

Tour of California 2009

Yes! The route for the 2009 Amgen Tour of California has been released and I am psyched! The race ends in Escondido, near San Diego and Oceanside, the home of several of our Navy (and non-Navy) friends. My daughter was planning a trip to the Golden State to visit some of these folks, a trip that was cancelled/delayed this year due to the cost of gasoline. We were thinking of driving out next summer (June perhaps) after saving some money for travel costs. Now, I am beginning to wonder if we should reschedule the trip to February so we can see the final day of the race. Definitely a topic for further discussion.

Anyway, here is the route and a link to the USAToday article reporting the information. Start planning!

Stage 1: Sacramento (2/14/09)
Stage 2: Davis to Santa Rosa (2/15/09)
Stage 3: Sausalito to Santa Cruz (2/16/09)
Stage 4: San Jose to Modesto (2/17/09)
Stage 5: Merced to Clovis (2/18/09)
Stage 6: Visalia to Paso Robles (2/19/09)
Stage 7: Solvang (2/20/09) --- individual time trial
Stage 8: Santa Clarita to Pasadena (2/21/09)
Stage 9: Rancho Bernardo to Escondido (2/22/09)

To view a map of the route, click here.

TDF Entries Abandoned

Certainly anyone who reads Gooseberry Lane on a regular basis noticed that I began writing daily blog entries for the Tour de France and made it all the way to Stage 5. Talk about a fair weather fan who abandons at the first sign of trouble (dopers and computer problems). No, in actuality, I didn’t abandon the race at all; I just needed to abandon writing about it because my laptop died. I needed to focus my time on rescuing my hard drive. Sorry. Rest assured, I haven’t abandoned the race. In fact, I have it taping as I write so I don’t miss Stage 16 from Cuneo, Italy to Jausiers, France. It promises to be an exciting day with two massive climbs and a sprint finish. If you have time, catch the race on Versus. Vive le Tour!

A Cycling Perspective

Versus is currently running a Take Back the Tour commercial that I find somewhat amusing and extremely accurate in its portrayal of the pain and suffering experienced by professional cyclists. Here is the text from the ad. On television, Jonathan Vaughters, the directeur sportif of Team Garmin Chipotle and a former cyclist from the US Postal Team, does the voice-over.

When they crash on those sprint finishes, that’s 40-45 miles an hour; if they’re on a descent, it can be 55-60 miles an hour. Next time you’re in your car at 50 miles an hour, strip down to your underwear and jump out the door...and that’s what it’s like to crash in a professional bike race.

I cannot post the video here, but it should be posted soon at www.takebackthetour.com.

My Price is Capped

One of my financial strategies of late is to put as many recurring bills as possible on the budget plan. That way, I won’t be hit with big bills, like car insurance or fuel oil payments, every few months, requiring me to come up with a large block of cash. For example, at the end of May, I locked in my oil price for the winter at $3.799/gallon. Actually, I contracted for a price cap, meaning the highest price I will pay, per gallon, for oil from now until May 2009 is the aforementioned amount. If the price goes down, I will pay the cheaper price; if the price increases to more than $3.799/gallon, I will not be charged the higher price point. After I signed the contract, I was concerned that I had negotiated too high a price. Then my good friend, Koalagirl15, called me to say that the going fuel oil price for a “lock in” contract with her oil company was $5.499/gallon! I am so happy I bought early.

Fortunately for me, I only need to heat my house. Here in Connecticut, many homeowners use fuel oil to heat their hot water as well. Translation: they are required to purchase fuel oil all year long. Sadly, many of my friends are in this position. Now, I don’t know how many gallons of oil they use per month, but I can tell you that I use ~600 gallons of fuel oil just to heat my home every winter. At $3.799/gallon, my cost this coming winter will be $2279.40; at $5.499/gallon, it would be $2749.50 (and my house is only 900 square feet). For my friends who live in 3000-square-foot houses, their fuel oil cost this winter, just for heat, could be in the neighborhood of $5000.00...or more. Frightening!

So, what have you done to plan for heat this winter?

Divide and Conquer

This morning, I saw yet another news article about IndyMacBank and the depositors who are attempting to get their money out of the beleaguered financial institution as fast as possible. Some of these folks have in excess of $200,000 in their accounts; but, because funds are only insured for their full value up to $100,000, these people may only get that fully insured amount and then (possibly) 50% of the amount on deposit above that. What does that mean? If you have $250,000 on deposit, you will get $100,000 for sure. Then, you will get 50% of the rest, or $75,000. That means you will lose $75,000. Not good. The simplest way to avoid this scenario? Divide the original $250,000 among various financial institutions so that no one account goes above the fully insured amount.

Another word to the wise: if you do not have money in IndymacBank, or one of the other banks in danger of failing, leave your money alone. If those of us whose financial institutions are sound run to the bank and withdraw our money, the banking industry (and the economy for that matter) will become even more volatile. Protect your funds as much as possible while still leaving them on deposit. The bank cannot function without your money; but, more importantly, the bank cannot function without your trust and confidence in their ability to weather this financial storm.

My Laptop is...Dead

A few days ago, my Apple laptop lost its mind, deciding to quit completely sometime in the late afternoon. It had been behaving badly for a few days, refusing to save documents and renaming the hard drive indiscriminately. Now, my tool of choice for writing blog entries is unavailable, forcing me to use a stationary computer that traps me at a desk. Ugh! Frustrating and inconvenient, but not cause for whining. Just know that updates to Gooseberry Lane may be slow while I share the family room computer with my daughter. Thank you.

Think Before You Eat

Ok, I have no idea if this is true. I suppose I could test it for myself if I wanted to save a McDonald’s hamburger or a McDonald’s french fry for several years. I don’t really want to do that. My point in sharing this is to spark your thinking about the content of fast food and why it probably isn’t something any of us should eat, especially on a regular basis. To be fair, McDonalds does offer healthy food as well, like Apple Dippers® (without caramel) and Southwest Salad®. I, for one, like their Asian Salad® and their Fruit 'n Yogurt Parfait®. Bon appetite.

Hopefully, the Only Doper

I am a little behind on writing my stage-by-stage blurbs on the Tour de France, but I couldn’t let this pass without comment. This morning, first thing after tuning in to the daily Versus coverage, I heard the announcement that Manuel Beltran of Team Liquigas (and a former Team Discovery Channel climber/domestique) was arrested for doping. Allegedly, he used erythropoetin (EPO) to enhance his performance on Stage 1 of the race. At the risk of sounding judgmental (which I have been accused of doing on occasion), dare I ask:

WHAT WAS HE THINKING!!!???

After all the hard work that the race organizers, the team managers, and the riders have done to make sure the competition is clean, possibly for the first time ever, it is worse than unfortunate that a single individual attempted to cheat. It was wrong. It is wrong, and it is insulting and disrespectful to every other cyclist in the Tour.

The immediate consequences:
- ejected from the Tour de France
- arrested by French police
- fired from Team Liquigas (pending B-sample analysis)

The long-term impact: an even more difficult return to trust for the entire sport.

If you speak/read French, you can read more about the incident in L’Equipe, the French sporting newspaper:
- Beltran positif à l’EPO
- Beltran exclu, Liquigas continue

English speakers can check these articles from Sporting Life:
- Beltran: Innocent Until Proven Guilty
- Beltran Pulled From Tour

TDF Stage 5

Catching up...

Route: Cholet - Châteauroux
Riders: 178
Distance: 232 km
Climbs:
- None

The longest day of the 2008 Tour de France was definitely a day for the sprinters…and yet another great day for Team Columbia with a stage win by Mark Cavendish. They now possess the white jersey of the best young rider and are currently second in the team competition. True, they handed the sprint jersey to Thor Hushovd today but, hey, sharing is a good thing. Right? Only seven points separate Kim Kirchen and Mr. Hushovd in that contest. One lousy day for the latter and the former may be wearing green again in no time. Remember, it isn’t over until the fat lady sings…or, in this case, until the fat cyclist rides. Well, you get the idea.

Favorite part of the day: the sprint finish, of course. How nerve wracking! With 35 sprint points up for grabs on the finish line, the sprinters had a prize worth fighting for. Team Liquigas set the pace at the front of the peleton in order to reel in a three-man breakaway and set up their man for a win (Francesco Chicchi). Team Columbia took a turn in the drivers seat as well in an attempt to launch Mark Cavendish over the line. An incident with a spectator and a crash on a roundabout did little or nothing to slow the pace into Châteauroux. Dicey, dicey, dicey. Nicolas Vogondy, one of the breakaway leaders, came up with one last desperate attempt to stay out front, but to not avail. Caught just meters from the finish, victory was not to be for the Frenchman. Instead, the win went to Mark Cavendish of Team Columbia. Kudos to the High Road Sports organization for a job well done.

Saddest part of the day: the withdrawal of Juan Mauricio Soler due to suspected broken bones in his scaphoid, the result of a crash on Stage 1. Today, he crashed again in the neutral zone and, shortly thereafter, decided to abandon the Tour. Too bad. The contest for the polka-dot jersey just won’t be the same.

In other news: Alejandro Valverde crashed early in the day. He has some road rash, but seems fine.

Oddity of the day: the giant yellow bug sculpture in one of the traffic circles. It was at around 56 miles before the end of the stage. Did you see it? It looked like an ant to me.

Withdrawals
- Juan Mauricio Hernandez Soler

Overall Standings
- Stefan Schumacher
- Kim Kirchen
- David Millar
- Cadel Evans
- Fabian Cancellara
- Christian Vande Velde
- George Hincapie
- Thomas Lövkvist

For the latest Versus.com video, click here.

TDF Stage 4

Route: Cholet - Cholet
Riders: 178
Distance: 29.5 km
Climbs:
- None

The first individual time trial of the 2008 Tour de France started on my television at 8:00 AM this morning. Too bad I wasn’t able to sit and watch it. I needed to work on some homeschooling tasks, including running my daughter out to church for organ practice. The wonders of videotaping (or Tivo, if you like) are such a blessing. Now the only challenge will be finding time to watch what I taped.

One day later…11:00 PM…folding towels…feeding the cockatiel…collecting trash…and watching my tape of the individual time trial. Hopefully, I will finish both the viewing and this blog entry before midnight so I can get some sleep. Don’t you just love July?

So, the upsets continue. Stefan Schumacher took the day, prevailing over second-place finisher Kim Kirchen by a mere 18 seconds. Favorite Alejandro Valverde came in twenty-third. Don’t know what happened there. The yellow jersey, Romain Feillu, completed the competition in 169th place, apparently just inside the elimination time. Whew! Other notables on the day: top spots for men from the two new American teams. Kim Kirchen (Team Columbia) took 2nd, David Millar (Garmin Chipotle) held 3rd, Christian Vande Velde (Garmin Chipotle) came in 8th, George Hincapie (Team Columbia) grabbed 9th, Thomas Lövkvist (Team Columbia) enjoyed 11th place, and Danny Pate (Garmin Chipotle) rounded out the bunch in 14th place. Very impressive efforts all.

The American teams are faring quite well this year, thus far. Team Garmin Chipotle currently sports first place in the team competition, while Team Columbia holds second in the team contest, first place in the sprint competition, and first place for best young rider. And remember, this is under the watchful eye of the drug testers at the Tour de France and at the Agency for Cycling Ethics. My greatest hope is that someone from one of these two teams will win the entire race and be able to demonstrate that they did it without the assistance of performance-enhancing drugs. Wouldn’t that be awesome!

Time trial oddity: listening to the aerodynamic rear wheel as the riders fly past the cameramen on the road.

Withdrawals
- None

Overall Standings
- Stefan Schumacher
- Kim Kirchen
- David Millar
- Cadel Evans
- Fabian Cancellara
- Christian Vande Velde
- George Hincapie
- Thomas Lövkvist

For the latest Versus.com video, click here.

How Do We Learn About “The Other?”

On Sunday morning, I saw this in the Daily Mail:

Two schoolboys were given detention after refusing to kneel down and ‘pray to Allah’ during a religious education lesson.

In the Old Testament, the Book of Daniel, Chapter 3 (NASB), I can read this:

You, O king, have made a decree that every man who hears the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery and bagpipe and all kinds of music, is to fall down and worship the golden image.

But whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire.

There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon, namely Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. These men, O king, have disregarded you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up.

Then Nebuchadnezzar in rage and anger gave orders to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego; then these men were brought before the king.

Nebuchadnezzar responded and said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up?”

“Now if you are ready, at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery and bagpipe and all kinds of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, very well. But if you do not worship, you will immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire; and what god is there who can deliver you out of my hands?”

Now, let’s be clear, I am not equating the practice of Islam with the religious practices of the ancient Babylonians. I am, however, wondering about the compulsion factor in each of these accounts. The schoolboys in modern times and the Jews of ancient days were both asked to bow down to a god that was not their own. Seriously, even in the interest of education, can society require (or even ask) this of anyone? I have to agree with the parent interviewed in the Daily Mail article, who said:

“But if Muslims were asked to go to church on Sunday and take Holy Communion, there would be war.”

So, if it would be unacceptable for a Muslim to participate in the practice of Christianity for educational purposes, why is it acceptable in reverse? A bigger question for me is: how can people learn about the religious beliefs and practices of others in the interest of community and understanding without “corrupting” their own religious observance? Is it enough to read about the beliefs of others? Or do we need to actually observe and perform the religious rituals or sacraments of another in order to truly understand? I happen to think that “book learning” and conversation with those who hold different beliefs is sufficient. I think the teachers and administrators at the British school went too far in this case.

My daughter’s music composition teacher told me once that he believes the need for religion will vanish someday and, with it, our need to label as “the other” anyone who believes differently from us. I don’t think that is possible…unless, of course, we all believe exactly the same thing. But then we wouldn’t be unique individuals, created by God for His specific purpose; we would be robots. So, unless and until we all become robots, I think we need to work toward a solution to this “understanding each other” thing.

Your thoughts on the subject?