Rocks In My Dryer

O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us your mercy, that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

--from the Episcopal liturgy

Photo courtesy of my uncle Jim

Meme-ing

Shalee has tagged me with a word meme.  I'm supposed to tell you the first thoughts that enter my mind at the mention of these words:

Buttercup--I just think of what must be one of the funniest scenes in movie history:

Bookstore--Sweet, sweet heaven on earth.

Pasta--An evil temptation from the hand of the very devil himself (says the girl who started Weight Watchers--again--this week).

Inspiration--Cheesy (and wonderful) '80's song by Chicago.  (Want to watch the video?  It's right here.)  Sorry, Shalee--you were probably looking for something profound...

Now, I tag Jeana, Sarah, DCRmom and EDJ; here are your word assingments:  candle, finger, grow, and wrap.

Time Waste

Sorry, no time for a thoughtful blog post today, because I am going OUT OF MY MIND trying to master this game.  So far, my top score is 18.5 seconds, which is pretty good, I think.  That should come as no surprise, since managing four moving targets is what I do all day, every day.  Go try it!  Come back and tell me your top score. 

Every Bit Counts!

Remember my telling you about Gaga's earlier this week?  They've offered a special discount to all of you.  At checkout, enter DCL6-DVPN-MD24 for 10% off your order.  It's good through the end of the year, for unlimited usages!

Raising Them the Microsoft Way

At school, Stephen's teacher showed him how to use the "favorites" function on Explorer to save the websites he likes to visit.  When he was playing around on the computer at home tonight, working on a project on Alaska, he tried to demonstrate this new skill to me. 

I smiled and explained to him that the "favorites" are individual to each computer; the "favorites" on the computer at school aren't the same as the "favorites" here at home.  He sighed and rolled his eyes.  "Guess I'll have to do this the old-fashioned way."

And I, thinking proudly for a moment that perhaps my child was going to ask for an encyclopedia, asked, "what do you mean?"

He said, "I guess I'll have to type the address in this little white bar myself."

Oh, yeah, the old-fashioned way.  Only if you were born in 1998, I suppose. 

Works For Me: CLASSICS Edition

So, did you get the memo?  We're going to try something different with Works-For-Me Wednesday this week.  Instead of sharing a new WFMW idea, go back in your archives and find your WFMW that you consider your best one.  Then re-publish it!  It's sort of a "Greatest Hits" edition.  Here's mine; it's actually the first WFMW I ever did, back on April 19, 2006--

Here's a little idea that has made packing easier when traveling with kids.  I buy those two-gallon Ziploc bags (they are MASSIVE) and label one for each day we are traveling.  Inside each bag is every kid's clothing for THAT DAY, all the way down to underwear and socks.  So, no more rummaging around in a crammed suitcase or having boy #1 use up all of boy #2's underwear.  I simply pull out that day's bag, dump it on the bed, and they can dress themselves.  An added bonus is that it keeps the clean clothes away from the dirty ones.  Here's a photo of the idea in action, from our recent Disney trip: 

Such a simple little thing, really, but it made the biggest difference in our trip!

Share your WFMW "classic" below.  If you've already prepared a new one, and you're itchin' to share it, go ahead.  (WFMW guidelines can be found here; please read through them if you have any questions.)

Just Making Sure You Heard...

We're going to try something a little different for Works-For-Me Wednesday this week.  You can see the details here. 

Blogoliciousness

I've added a few of my long-standing favorites to my blogroll on the left; just thought I'd tell you a little more about these blogs I love.

Planet Nomad is the journal of an American woman and her family living in Mauritania, actually IN the Sahara Desert.  IN it.  As in, they get sand in their house.  I read it and scold myself for complaining when the mail runs a couple of hours late.  You don't want to miss this excellent blog.

I've really enjoyed getting to know DCRmom at Musings of a Housewife .  She and I share an important thing in common--we're both Christian families who feel called to have our kids in public schools.  She writes eloquently of this issue here.

Katherine at Raising Five writes with great wit and wisdom about...well, about raising five kids.  I learn something every time I click over there, and you will too.  Best of all, I get to meet her in a few weeks at this event.   

KimC at Life In a Shoe is a mom of eight (seven of them girls!  Oh, the estrogen!) and she has a gentle sense of humor that makes it all look very easy. 

Addie at Life With Little Women is one of the bloggers I was thrilled to meet at this event, and I LOVE the way she writes.  Very wise, very witty, very warm. 

Go check out any of these fine writers--you'll be glad you did.

It's Classics Week!

Let's do something different for Works-For-Me Wednesday this week.  Instead of publishing a new idea this Wednesday, go back into your archives and re-print the best WFMW tip you've ever run.  We'll link up at my site like always, but this time, it will be everyone's best effort so far!  What do you think?

(If you're new to WFMW and want to publish a new one, that's fine too.)

By the way...if you came by here earlier and saw this week's WFMW up early, that was a goof on my part.  It's back down and will be put up again on Wednesday.  Sorry!

Fall Into Reading

For years, when I finished what I was reading, I would amble into a library or bookstore and just grab something interesting off the shelf.  No rhyme, no reason.  The older I became (and the more aware I became that--HORROR!-- that there are more good books out there than I can probably read in my lifetime), I decided to become more deliberate about my reading list.  I carefully plan what I will read next, and I try to balance classics with contemporary, even throwing in a few (shudder) non-fiction titles. 

So I was tickled to see Katrina at Callapidder Days launch her excellent idea:  the Fall Into Reading Challenge.  The idea is simply to plan what you will read this fall, post it on your blog, and enter a linky back to Katrina's challenge.  That way we can all see what everyone else is reading, and maybe having it recorded for all posterity will convict us to WALK AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER and pick up a real live book.

I keep my reading listed posted on my sidebar at left, but I'll go ahead and include my fall reading plans here:

1. Jewel by Bret Lott.  This is what I'm currently reading, and y'all, I will be having one HECK of a book review for you very soon.
2. The Quotidian Mysteries by Kathleen Norris.  I don't know much about it; I've just been reading so many interesting quotes by this author lately that I wanted to try one of her books.
3. Abide With Me by Elizabeth Strout.
4. Education, Christianity and the State by J. Gresham Machen.  Recommended by my theologian brother as a treatise on how public education and Christianity fit together.
5. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck.  I find it hard to believe I'll be able to fit this one in with all the other reading I want to do, but I'm going to try.
6. The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley.  This one was recommended for reading to my kids, but I want to check it out first.
7. The Field Guide by Holly Black.  Another one I'd like to check out for my kids.
8. Fortune's Rocks by Anita Shreve. 
9. The Passion of Artemisia by Susan Vreeland.  I really like Vreeland's works, and I'm a sucker for a good historical novel.

Head on over to Katrina's blog to record your fall reading list.