The Man of the Hour

So yesterday Husband went to work and I began the long process of laundry (over 8 loads!) and putting away Christmas. The children were assembling the different lego/bionicle goodies they received: T-Bone was working hard on a Skeleton Tower, Cheeseball was working on a skeleton carriage, and Janey was working on some wierd undersea creature. Well, it wasn't long until Cheeseball needed a little assistance getting a piece attached. I glanced at the instuctions, looked at the legos, looked back at the instructions and said, "Uh, sorry, no help from me." So he implored his brother to help. T-Bone stopped what he was doing and came over to help him. A little bit later, Janey called, needing some help. Again I looked, shrugged, and said, "Sorry! I can't do this." So she went up to T-Bone and again he helped. I needed the dishwasher emptied and it was T-Bone's turn and he came as soon as I called. The kids spent several hours on their projects and T-Bone continued to be interrupted and asked for help. All the while he was working on this tricky tower and then a bionicle and then a Naboo space craft. He never complained. I guess it's good to be needed.

Goose has taken to speaking with her scary voice. She growls deep in her throat and what comes out is a mixture of Darth Vader and the Exorcist. She is such a little girl and I just can't get used to it.

Janey is trying to get me to sign a set of laws she has created for the better running of our home. They include (but are not limited to): Boon is mayor of Our Town and will be respected. All punished people will be punished by Janey. No popping of balloons." She cracks me up; she loves to draw up contracts. I have refused to sign, by the way.

We played Murder in the Dark as a family last night. In the past we have always done the winking method (and Cheeseball would always keep his eyes closed so he couldn't be killed), but this time we did the hand squeeze way. T-Bone and I both suceeded in killing everyone before we were caught!

Some things are easy, others are hard

Our return trip home from Christmas in Arizona was easy and uneventful (except for the few minutes a certain member of our family had to spend outside the car while regaining composure). The roads were perfectly clear, traffic was light, and crossing the dam was pretty quick, despite the dire roads signs which warned of significant delays.
Our visit was good, except for the part where I went pyscho and became the worst version of myself. Fortunately others are patient and forgiving.
As we were driving back, we found a radio station where a bunch of commentators with British accents were discussing progress and space and life and one of them said something along the lines of, "We're not even sure about the idea of free will, whether people really have choices or not." Of course that flies in the face of what I believe, but the truth is, for me, changing myself is the hardest thing there is. It is so easy to continue being the way I am and so hard--too hard, it seems--to change. I guess that's why true change requires something outside of ourselves to help us be better. Grace provided for by the atonement, I guess it is. Boy do I need some of that and soon!
On a side note, I've resolved to stop in Boulder City (I think that's the name) instead of Las Vegas for any gas or food needs, and be very wary of the Burger Kings on the outskirts of small towns. . . .

Oh, the Dam Traffic!

Yeah! It's Christmas and it has been wonderful. Our normally 11.5 hour trip telescoped to over 13 hours, thanks to patches of icy roads, several misguided attempts to find Little Caesars, and the horrible traffic over the Hoover Dam. But it all went well--we were safe and happy and even reasonably happy, although the power cord for our portable DVD player wasn't working so we couldn't enjoy a movie. The kids are truly enjoying being with their cousins and it has been nice and relaxing. The lack of snow has also been a plus.

What a wonderful thing it is to celebrate the birth of the Savior of the world. Merry Christmas!

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas

Well we are supposed to be heading out for our Christmas trip adventure today but the weather forecasts haven't been encouraging. I found a sitter from the online classifieds for Boon Dog, but I'm a little concerned because she lives in a trailer park. . . . It's not like I have a love for the animal, but Cheeseball in particular has been getting closer to him and even put Boon's name on his school-made stocking.
We had a nice weekend. Janey had a good birthday and she was happy with her party and we got to see some of my family (though Husband and I have been outed as the worst Trivial Pursuit players ever), and we're going to be able to see Husband's family for Christmas. The kids are so excited to be with their cousins and I'll be grateful to have my fun and fearless sister-in-law to keep me happy. Husband has been warned to not spend all his time fishing and at the electronics store. We'll see how that pans out!
Above all else right now, I am feeling very grateful. Our lives are so blessed and we have so many excellent opportunities and soon there will be presents and yummy food and chances to think about Jesus.
And on a cheesy last note, I have to add that I am really loving the Christmas music that is all around. A couple of days ago, I was in the car and I heard "Ave Maria" and it was just about the prettiest thing ever. I almost choked when I heard the DJ say the singer was Barbara Streisand, but I guess you have to hand it to her, she has a beautiful voice. Okay, and for the song that I'm most embarressed to admit I'm moved by: "Mary, Did You Know?" by Kenny Rogers. The music is that soft rock stuff that has never sat well with me but the lyrics are so sweet,
"Did you know
That your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
And when you kiss your little boy
You've kissed the face of god"

Too perfect for words

Sometimes I love the snow. Today I walked outside with Boon. The snow was falling softly and everything was white and silent. I don't know if falling snow provides insulation from sound, but everything seemed so quiet and peaceful and clean and good. It was a perfect moment. As I go through life I occasionally find moments of perfection, when all the elements come together without flaw, and I am moved to a point beyond my ability to articulate. Sometimes it happens in a book (the Book Thief had several moments that I remember with gratitude), many times it happens in music (Brahms has a beautiful, gentle piano waltz), and every once in a while it happens with my family, when we're all together and happy and safe. I thank God for these moments and for the hope of more to come.

Want a dog?

AGH! Now that the weather is snowy, when Boon has to go potty, we want to be able to open the door, let him out and have him return, just like a boomerang (Boonerang?). The german shepherd next door does that. But no, Boon Dog has to be Mr. Social and he goes running through the neighborhood and ends up visiting other dogs in others' yards. We have a hard time finding him and who wants to tramp through all that snow anyway?

I've had a couple of minor crisises (how is that spelled?) the past few days as I've tried to prove myself reasonably competent. I keep thinking I can do these things that others can do but I meet with failure or my own ineptitude and end up feeling frustrated. (And I hope I didn't actually kill my wheat grinder!)

Oh, my Bookshelf to the right has only one book that I'm actually reading. (The Drummer Boy is a little gem we got from the library and Goose wants to read it at least once a day.) I hope to be reading the Hunger book soon for Book Group, and I really should be reading Gods and Generals just for my personal development.

After lunch treats

So Cheeseball comes up to me after lunch and requests his "after lunch treat." He wants chocolate chips--both the regular chocolate and the white chocolate (which I just happen to have sitting around in my cupboard so I can nibble on whilst I think about making cookies). I asked him why he wanted both. He answered, "So they can battle." I then wondered aloud who would win. But Cheeseball's shirt said it all. "Never Underestimate the Power of the Dark Side." (It features Lego Star Wars characters; he's only mildly obsessed....)

Oh, Janey didn't get called back for the play:(. It's okay though, apparently none of her good friends did either. The school must have a lot of very talented children. But to be brutally honest, elementary school plays hold zero interest for me unless my child is on stage, I don't care if Shirley Temple herself would waltz out in front of the curtain. I wonder if how many other parents feel that way?
UPDATE: The light side won the chocolate chip battle, apparently one of the whites had the force extra, extra strong.

And you thought your life was exciting . . .

Goose and I are doing in-depth research for the book we're writing on discount store restrooms. That's why whenever we go to Target or WalMart or Costco, bingo, she says she has to go potty and we head off to the WC. Sometimes she produces and sometimes she just sits there, and sits there, and sits there . . . . I've never been in so many store restrooms in my life.

Oh, yesterday I tried a new recipe:http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/White-Chocolate-Chocolate-Cookies/Detail.aspx?prop31=1
I think that only someone who really likes dark chocolate would appreciate them because they are so packed with cocoa (more than twice that which is in my regular brownie recipe) that they aren't very sweet, but I loved them precisely because they did satisfy my chocolate craving. I even passed up a chance to nibble on Beulah's Toblerone bar because I had had a couple of cookies an hour or two before she offered and I just didn't need any more chocolate.

Speaking of Beulah, we finished up her mop cap (or was it a muffin hat?) for her English class. We had to dig out my sewing maching and it was after an hour of whining and screaming (all mine, btw) that Beulah delicately showed me that I had threaded the maching the wrong way. Duh, duh, duh. But the hat turned out fun. We sacrficed an old piece of black velour which had been Beulah's Hermione cape from Halloween six years ago.

Here's to making things easier!

Well it finally occurred to me that it was the holiday season and I wanted to be baking and making goodies. My very wise sister-in-law clued me into making gingerbread cookies with a mix. Whenever I've made them by hand it has always taken so long and been so messy and hard on my mixer and ultimately, the cookies aren't even that tasty. Well, sitting in my fridge right now is a batch of dough waiting for the kids to come home and roll and cut and it took me two or three minutes to throw together. Yeah!

Goose is trying to get Boon Dog in his crate. I don't think he believes that he has to obey her. He is amazingly patient with her poking and prodding. I think I just heard her tell that something was disgusting. Hmmm. Maybe I should check it out. . . .

Janey is trying out for a part in the Cinderella play today. She has no fear on stage and I have to say that she is adorable when she's performing. I was going to wonder where it comes from but her Dad is the biggest ham I know. The boys are fun. I am so grateful that they are good friends.

Beulah is enjoying her new haircut. She has to say she doesn't like it, occasionally, just so she's not bragging, but I know she knows she cute.

What is DNCB?

Last night, about an hour and a half before we were going to go the Messiah, I discovered that Goose had gotten into this dangerous substance that I received from a dermatologist. I had thought it was out of reach but Goose had put a chair up to the dresser where I had put it and she'd gotten the lid off the vial. I don't know what she did with it; there wasn't much in the tube to begin with and I couldn't tell if any was gone. It looks like Vaseline. All that was written on the tube was "DNCB V. For external use only." (I couldn't recognize the C) I called the poison control center and the man on the phone was unable to tell me what the stuff was. It was 6:00 on a Friday evening, and I called the Dermatologist's office but he wasn't in. So then I went through the list of dermatologists in the phone book. The first one I called answered, to my surprise, and as it turned out, she was the doctor and not a receptionist. At first she didn't know what I was talking about but then she said, "Oh, there's DNCB--Dinitrocholorobenzoide (or something like that). Oh, I don't use that. It's a carcinogen." I thanked her quickly and then recalled the poison control. I told him that I'd put Goose in the bath tub immediately and washed her off in case all she had done was touch it. He told me that if she'd ingested enough to make her sick she would have problems with her red blood cells and turn blue around the lips or get lethargic. At this point we could both hear her screaming lustily, and he said it sounded like she was okay. He said he'd call back in an hour. Fortunately, Goose never should any symptoms of red blood cell destruction and when he called back she was fine.
Husband went to the Messiah early and saved a seat for me. When we determined that Goose was okay, I went and joined him. My kind father-in-law actually dropped me off so I didn't have to find a parking spot. I went running in and, can you believe it, I didn't miss the music. It was fabulous, though we didn't sing about being like sheep or the Sons of Levi.
So anyway, it's early in the morning and I can't get back to sleep and I figured I would research DNCB and then record what I learned.
There isn't a lot of info; it seems like a mildly controversial treatment for skin lesions (that's warts). Apparently it's also used in AIDS treatment. I think I dreamed about Goose getting cancer. But maybe I should be more concerned about the person who had been getting this treatment. I was never told that the substance was a "mutagen," only that it was a substance that provokes an allergic reaction on everyone who comes into contact with it. I didn't get a lot of "danger" warnings, though.

BTW, before all this drama, Beulah did my makeup. (She wants to be a cosmotolgist, she says.) It was fun, but she laid the foundation on a bit thick and I think I looked a little orange. She did a much better job on me than I did when I insisted on giving my mom a makeover twenty years ago.

God Couldn't Be Everywhere So He Created Mothers

Now I am not sure my children would understand this sentiment but let me tell you. . . . Yesterday I was having a bad day and feeling angry, frustrated, and useless and then it occurred to me that I could simply call my mom. A few rings and there she was, full of support and sympathy and wisdom. I have always been able to talk with her and feel comforted and reassured by her words, as far as I can remember back in my memory. I know that everyone does not have this kind of relationship with their mothers and it's a pity because it's a wonderful thing.

Tonight is the Messiah Sing Along! I am so excited! I'm not sure what my favorite part is: I love hearing the drums boom along with "Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace." And of course I adore the Hallelujah chorus. I also really like "And he will purify the sons of Levi that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness." But I think the most personally moving part of the experience is when we all sing, repetitively in parts, "All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way," and then it ends with the slowly sung truth of our salvation, "And the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of . . .us . . . all." I will probably bawl through the whole thing. I hope I don't see anyone I know!

A Grain of Rice

I had a strange dream last night. Instead of being a lovely 2 year-old toddler my youngest child was an ant, about the size of a grain of rice. I loved her very much and I dressed her in a pink top and little white pants. I was holding her carefully and then I dropped her and she fell in a space between two pushed-together bunk beds. As I looked around the base of the beds, I kept thinking that I saw huge killer ants. I was certain they would find Goose and kill her. I continued to look but I knew I would never find her. I then remembered that I had only taken a couple of pictures of her and I cursed myself for not having more. It was not until I woke up that I remembered that Goose is actually a little girl with messy light brown hair and a magically elusive smile.