Life at my house

Yes. When you put it that way, I can see why they really wanted to buy me a new summer robe for Mother's Day.  Too bad they couldn't find one that I liked.  You'd think it'd be easy, right?

And more book reviews

Tiger Trap: America's Secret Spy War With China by David Wise

Fascinating tale of counterintelligence in our country.  I'm not a fan of fiction spy stories, but this is the real thing. Unfortunately, it did not leave me with a great sense of security with our over-bureaucratic government . . .

Sergeant Rex: The Unbreakable Bond Between a Marine and His Military Working Dog by Mike Dowling

Beautiful story about a marine and his bomb sniffing dog. While I didn't appreciate the loads of unnecessary swear words, I was left with further admiration and respect for our military.

Right after I finished this book, the dog, Sergeant Rex, was in the news. Following Rex's time with author Dowling, he was assigned to Corporal Megan Leavey. This team survived an IED hit, ending Leavey's career.  Rex continued working until a recent retirement and was due to be put down. Leavey intervened and was able to permanently adopt the dog.

A happy tale with a continued good ending.


Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain

EXCELLENT, excellent book. I can't say anything more eloquently than the wonderful reviews, but I would highly recommend this book to ANYone who has an introvert in their life.  (Yes, that is everyone.) You'll wish you'd have read it sooner.  Surely one of the best books I've read, and will read, this year. I've already recommended it several times.


God's Story, Your Story by Max Lucado

I usually enjoy Max, but this book was completely unmemorable. 

God's Harvard: A Christian College on a Mission to Save America by Hanna Rosin

What happens when a small, conservative Christian college allows a skeptical, liberal mocker campus privileges for a year?  You get a piece of carp book like this.  Why on earth the school would permit this is beyond me, but this was "journalism" at its worst.  The only lesson here is what impartial reporting isn't, and what direction the media has taken in the past few decades under the false heading of "journalism."  (See anything by Michael Moore, etc.)


The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore

This is a half-autobiographical story about two fatherless boys with the same name, who were born in the same year and grew up within blocks of each other in Baltimore.  Both continued to struggle throughout their childhoods while their mothers struggled to make ends meet.  As adults, one became a Rhodes scholar.  The other is a convicted murderer serving a life sentence.

From the author: "The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his."




We Lived in a Little Cabin in the Yard by Belinda Hurmence

A collection of oral histories taken by former slaves who'd lived in Virginia.  It was a short read, very interesting.  Would be much less relevant to anyone not in this area.

Swagger: 10 Urgent Rules for Raising Boys in an Era of Failing Schools, Mass Joblessness, and Thug Culture by Lisa Bloom

While I am interested in the premise of this book (the culture in which American boys are now growing up), my enthusiasm dampened quickly as the author began, in Chapter 1, by blaming the school system. Ultimately, she blamed slashes in school budgets: "[Teachers] know state funding isn't there for them or their classrooms full of kids.)"  Five minutes of research will show anyone that more money does not equal better schools. Way too much crap and liberal nonsense for me, end of story. 



Little Britches: Father and I Were Ranchers
Man of the Family
and Fields of Home by Ralph Moody


This series begins in the Littleton area 100 years ago. I've wanted to read it for years and was not disappointed.  It can best be described as a Little House on the Prairie book for boys. Ralph is 8 when his family moves from New York to Colorado in an effort to help his father's tuberculosis.  They rent a ranch southwest of Denver and begin their new life.  My familiarity with the location magnified how vastly different our lifestyle has changed in just 100 years.

The series continues with Ralph's family's move from the ranch to the town of Littleton.  As I read the book, I kept returning to the internet to look for maps, as I already know some of buildings and blocks to which he referred.  I have always enjoyed reading about places I know.

I am still unsure which book is next in the series.  It seems that the books may not have been written in chronological order.  This third book I've read follows Ralph as he lives with his grandfather in Maine after his mother takes the children from Colorado under the cover of darkness.

Ralph Moody's story is inspiring.  With a minimal formal education, Ralph's goal was to earn $50,000 by age 50 to permit him time to write. He enrolled in a writing class, eventually publishing 19 books.  Littleton Public School's Ralph Moody Elementary stands today as a tribute to this famous hometown author.

Trevor's encampment / grad

Back to playing blog catch up!  I thought I'd do this when the kids were gone, but I only "thought" about it.

Trevor's encampment.  He had an amazing time.  He was gone for eight nights, during which time we had no contact at all with him.  I worried.  It was very hot and muggy that week, low 90s.  And I worried more.  We were able to glimpse him a few times through photos that were posted by CAP leadership. This was my favorite. On Day 4, he was still? finally? smiling and happy.

 I couldn't WAIT to see my kid again!

Holly even chose car time over sleep to see Trev's graduation ceremony. Due to the huge "derecho" storm that hit the mid-Atlantic Friday night, we were still without power when we drove to the base on Sunday morning.   As we drove east, we were surprised by the enormity of the storm damage (downed trees, reports of power outages, no ice).

When the got there, the group was lining up to march into the stadium.

It was very difficult to pick out just one person, but we finally saw Trevor very close to the front.

Baking hot.  Robert settled under trees on one end, Holly and I went to a hill on the other.

Due to the excessive heat,the usually 30-40 minute ceremony was cut down to less than half.

I was able to spot Trevor this time!

The families were kept back behind a road while the cadets signed out and said their goodbyes. Everyone was trying to spot their own kids; it was pretty entertaining.

And there he is!

Wonderful to have my boy young man back home!  He had an amazing time and is considering applying for a staff position so he can return next year.  He was looking forward to coming home to an air conditioned house and long showers.  Uh, no a/c here, and while he can shower as long as he likes, the water's cold.  We returned home to find our water shut off until the following day (as our water district waited for generators to come from Florida), and our power stayed out for three more days.  He was still happy to be home!

Click here for lotsandlotsandlots of photos taken during encampment week.

Holly & Trevor final trip update

I don't think I knew that they also had gone to the movies on Friday night.

Saturday, (Robert's brother) Mike and (wife) Val picked up Holly, Trevor, and Grandma. They drove up to Sequim and ate at the Oak Table Cafe before heading over to Dungeness Spit.  This trip holds a special memory for me:  Mike and Val took me and Robert out here 20? 21? years ago. Robert had had a moustache as long as I'd known him, and he spent time in the car looking in the rearview mirror, with his finger across his lip, trying to see what he'd look like.  We have some romantically gushy pictures of us on the spit. When we got home to Mike and Val's, he shaved without telling anyone.  Silly little things I remember . . .   They went to the movies later on Saturday night also.

On Sunday, they went down to Point Defiance and the zoo.  I guess Grandma got separated from the group, and when she told the park officials that she'd lost her grandkids, they almost went into a high alert. Hahaha!

Mike and Val picked Holly and Trevor up Monday and took the ferry to Seattle. The one thing Holly wanted to do during her trip was to tour UW, and this was the only day that it worked with their schedule and the school's tour schedule.  The tour lasted just over two hours. It was the first time Trevor had tagged along, so I'm interested to hear what he thought!  They visited a giant Asian store that both kids loved. I don't know if they ate there? I know they ate Asian food at least four or five times during the course of their visit.

Mike took them to the airport on Tuesday morning. Just as they arrived, I learned that their flight was going to be an hour late, which would make them miss their connecting flight.  UNBELIEVABLE.  After major scrambling (by Mike and Robert) and major panic (by me) and here-we-go-again (by Holly and Trevor), their flight ended up changing one day later.  Mike took them back to Grandma's house, and they went out to a peaceful dinner by the water.  (Isn't that whole area so beautiful with the water everywhere?) I am so appreciative of Mike's and Jean's abilities to quickly adapt to the change and keeping the kids as stress free as possible.

Bless Mike for taking them again today.  I know how much he loathes driving in that awful rush hour traffic.  They ended up on an earlier flight, which was fine with them--they were much more comfortable with a longer layover, preferring it to shorter travel time and worrying about rushing.

As I'm typing, they have just gotten on their flight in Chicago and will be home in two hours.

Believe me, I can't WAIT!!!!!!

Oldie but goodie

Like the old people we apparently now are, Robert was reminiscing about a dinner I'd cooked.  He couldn't tell me exactly when I'd made it (here in VA? In Colorado Springs? In Littleton?), only that it had peanut butter and noodles and tasted like Thai.  And red pepper flakes. And he wanted me to make it again.

I honestly couldn't believe he was talking about something more than ten years ago. Not to mention, I was reluctant to make anything we liked back then--I find that my taste evolves.  What I used to love, I don't care for quite as much several years later.

But in an effort to relive our youth, and to promote marital joy, I gave it a shot.  This is a recipe from Good Housekeeping magazine.  In 1993.  (Just to prove how tastes change, I now refuse to read this awful magazine; I get it in the mail for free occasionally, and I throw it out without opening it.)

THAI SHRIMP and SESAME NOODLES

1 lb. medium shrimp, cleaned (I prefer to buy cooked)
16 oz. bottle of Newman's Own Italian Dressing*
1/4 c. chunky peanut butter
2 T. soy sauce
2 T. honey
2 t. grated fresh gingerroot

2 T. sesame oil
crushed red pepper flakes to taste
16 oz. box of angel hair pasta
cilantro, chopped


In a small bowl, toss shrimp with about 1/3 bottle of dressing; marinate one hour in fridge.  In another small bowl, mix remaining salad dressing, peanut butter, soy sauce, honey, ginger, sesame oil, and red pepper flakes.  Prepare pasta; when done, drain well.  Return to pan, toss with peanut butter mix, shrimp in dressing, and cilantro over low heat until shrimp is heated through.  Makes 4 main dish servings.

*This recipe is a Newman's Own ingredient winner, back when it was a new thing

(recipe amounts already tweaked to suit us)

19 years later, this recipe is still great. I'm sure the kids will love it--Holly can easily pick out he shrimp. It can be a new staple for us, and we'll all be very happy.

Holly and Trevor trip report #4

Dave and Barb took Holly and Trevor up into the mountains for the afternoon. They played frisbee golf (camping? at B&D's?); Trevor made a tomahawk. They ate steak, baked potatoes and salad with their fingers as they forgot silverware! They were bit by bugs. They had a blast!

Yesterday, they made the 3.5 hour car drive longer by hitting Seattle during rush hour traffic on their way to Robert's mom's house.  They went out to pizza for dinner. They were sad to report no cell service at Grandma's, and no computer. 

They were up bright and early today, stopped at Mike and Val's, took the ferry over to Seattle, went to the top of the Space Needle, the Dale Chihuly museum, and to Pike Place Market for a late lunch/early dinner.  Barb and Dave will head home after dropping Jean (Robert's mom), Holly and Trevor off at the ferry terminal to catch the ferry back to Port Orchard.

I'm getting occasional photos and bursts of messages.  Makes me happy.

Holly & Trevor trip report #3

Mike, my mom, and the kids took the morning ferry from Friday Harbor to Sidney, BC.  It was a little drizzly. They drove over to Victoria, ate Thai? food for lunch, and visited the Royal BC Museum and planetarium.  They checked into their hotel, toured Butchart Gardens, where they ate dinner and stayed for the nighttime fireworks show.

They went out to brunch Sunday morning, walked along the waterfront in Victoria, ate a late lunch in Sidney, and caught the evening ferry back to Friday Harbor.

On Monday, they caught up with laundry, drove up to Roche Harbor, and just in general spent the day relaxing a bit.

(My info may be off. This is a combination of what I can recall and what I pieced together. So there ya go--somewhat telling, I think!)

They got in the ferry line Tuesday morning and ate breakfast before leaving the island.  They met up with Robert's sister Barb in Monroe. My mom and Mike returned home; Holly and Trevor went up to Leavenworth with Barb.  They stopped at a candy store and went through the town before heading to Barb and Dave's.  They ate dinner at a sushi/Thai restaurant and crashed.

They'd planned to go camping tonight, but with the night time thunderstorms (so rare there!), they decided to just camp for the afternoon and cook out.

-----------------------------------
That's the last I heard from anyone, although it's just dusk there, and I'm about to go to bed here.

I spent the day working on course descriptions and cleaning Holly's room.  Someone asked me why *I* was cleaning *her* room.  I used to take advantage of the time she was gone to just go through everything, and it's gotten to be a habit.  I don't think she really minds it much anymore.  It's just something we've both come to expect when she's gone. In fact, Robert was the one who asked me when I was going to clean her room this week!

After the past week of mostly eating like old people (sandwiches and leftovers kind of food), Robert and I went out to Alejandro's, our fave Mexican place.

Holly and Trevor trip report #2

Big thunderstorms all through Thursday night, unusual for the West coast.  Rainy Friday in what is usually the "banana belt" area.  Change of plans due to weather resulted in touring the islands via interisland ferry.

Storms on the mainland knocked out island power at 9:15 p.m.  (What is it with my kid and losing power lately?) Power was restored in the middle of the night. They took the ferry Saturday morning to Sidney, BC and will spend the night in Victoria before returning to Friday Harbor on Sunday evening. I checked the Victoria webcam, and the sky is clear and blue, yippee!

Holly and Trevor trip report

It's odd with both of them gone at the same time.  I'm not there to take pictures, but Holly is finally using her "new" camera.  I want to record what they are doing here so they will remember some of the details in the years to come.

------------------------------

They left San Juan Island.  In a small plane.  With an instructor.  And Trevor flying the plane.


Apparently this is where all of the video gaming skills pay off, right?

Trevor flew the plane.

Trevor took off, Trevor landed.  Trevor learned how to get out of stalls--after slowing the plane down and tipping the nose up so the air can't flow over the wings.  Holly found it all great fun.

Trevor flew the plane.

They flew around the beautiful San Juan Islands. I can't wait to see her photos.  The views are stunning.

(taken from the web)

 Trevor flew the plane.

(Mom hyperventilates, falls off chair, hits head, passes out.)

---------------------------

They went to the yacht club for dinner.  They "saw whales."  I don't know how many, how close, or what they saw, but seeing whales is the perfect cherry on top of an already amazing day! After dinner, they walked around the docks a bit.

And Trevor flew the plane.

----------------------------

Follow up note:  The plane was a Cessna 172 Skyhawk. :D

Seasoning of travelers

Holly and Trevor flew to Seattle yesterday. Here are a few highlights.

As we had to get up at 3:30 a.m., Holly chose not to go to sleep the night before. She stays up late anyway and figured the few hours of sleep were not worth having to wake up.  I supported her decision.

Everyone else woke up between 3:30-4; left house at 4:40, arrived at airport at 5. Roanoke is a small airport but many of its flights leave 6-7, we had to wait in line. Robert and I were not allowed past security (where there were more lines).

Plane is one hour late leaving, one hour late arriving in Chicago, giving kids about 8 minutes to catch shuttle bus to another concourse for connected flight.

Miss connecting flight. Get on standby list for next flight.  Don't make the cut.  Can't remember if there was a second standby list that they did not make.

Holly and Trevor go to United Service Center and request change of airline in attempt to get to Seattle before 11pm (the only flight on which they do have confirmed seats). I continue to advise them to tell people they are only 13 and 17. Holly later tells me that many of the travelers with issues are about her age.

Meanwhile, Robert confirms seats for them on American flight leaving at 12:45.  Holly and Trevor successfully navigate "the world's busiest airport" to find yet a third terminal.  Upon arriving at the gate, they learn, yes, they have seats but cannot get on until the payment comes through from United to actually PAY for the seats.

Robert begins a series of phone calls, with one airline on one phone line, second airline on the other phone line.  He goes to neighbor's house to use their phone to call his sister, who also begins calling for supervisors from her end.

Holly and Trevor wait at the gate while people are given standby seats.  Plane is delayed 30 minutes.  I tell her this may work in her favor, giving Robert and airlines more time to iron out problem.

I've been at work this whole time. Thankfully, everyone there is soooo understanding. I'm on my phone constantly with kids and Robert and my mom/Mike, on the computer looking at flights, getting minimal library work done.

I have been unable to reach Robert via phone for the last hour. He emails me that he's still on the phones. I pass on to kids via text.

Holly is ready to give up and just take that last, guaranteed flight.  Her bigger concern is her checked bag.

Holly finally advises they got their tickets but there are no seats left on plane, American seeing what it "can do."

They get first class seats on plane, front row.  Warmed nuts--the kind Trevor is not allergic to! Endless drinks (uh, soda here, thanks).  Quesadilla for lunch.  Holly slept and missed the cookie giveout.

Landed at 3:30, found Mom and Mike, found baggage easily, joined Seattle rush hour traffic. Stopped at Ivar's for dinner, made the 8:20 ferry to San Juan Island-which must have been a beautiful way to end the day!

Holly commented that she is scarred for life.  Both she and Trevor were definitely stretched!  I'm thankful that they now have the confidence of knowing they can work their way through a completely unfamiliar situation that would challenge any experienced adult traveler.  And I'm thankful that they had the nice reward of the big comfy seats in first class after waiting so patiently, knowing they were losing their seats.

I'll be praying that the return trip home is uneventful. :/

New favorite salad dressing

First tried this while visiting Bethlehem in April.

Now Holly won't even eat anything else on her salad.

Good stuff, and I bet it'd be good on a fajita-style salad too.

Lights out

A storm blew halfway across the country on Friday, wreaking havoc.  We lost power at 9pm on Friday.  After realizing it would not be on anytime soon, I began taking a few notes:

Sunday, Day 2 without power

Picked up Trevor. No ice in Lynchburg, but we found it in Farmville, two hours away. Got home early afternoon to find water shut off. Crazy!

Ice cream turned to milkshake consistency, so it was a free for all!

We drove around looking at damage in the neighborhood. We are lucky. So many trees down, some taking out sheds; many across roads; one went through a house a few blocks away. We lost a big limb in the backyard—thankfully, it fell right between two neighbors' fences, instead of on either.

 Hard to see in this pic, the blue tarp on the right is covering a big hole in the roof. There were some of the biggest trees we've ever seen blown over in this yard, with another blocking most of the road.

We'd already considered going out to dinner at Alejandro's, but the lack of water completely cinched that decision.

Kids slept downstairs in the basement.

Monday, Day 3 without power

We got water from a nearby creek and can flush toilets. This makes us very happy.

While we are getting our newspaper, I'm getting many more current updates from my dad (who lives in Phoenix). Local radio stations are still out. Dad told me that our water should be back on today. I found out that the water district is getting in six generators from Florida to crutch our system through until power is restored.

I took the kids to a nearby library so we could plug in for awhile.

Water came back around 6pm. Yippee!!! The first thing I did was wash dishes.

We are slowly emptying fridge/freezer. Robert made amazing french fries on the barbeque—not bad, considering they'd defrosted! He used a pan, and also bbqed hotdogs, so we had what basically amounted to salchipapas. Dessert was a frozen coconut cream pie that had also defrosted.

I continue to think about the 350 families in Colorado who would love to return to their homes, even without power or water. Instead, their homes burned to the ground. It puts things in perspective, that's for sure.

We continue to be told that power in our county should be restored on Saturday. (Yes, that means it will have been out for eight days.)

Tuesday, Day 4 without power

The first two days, I missed my morning coffee the most, followed distantly by the dishwasher.

The top of my list today would probably be cold food. A washer and dryer. And still coffee, definitely coffee.

Kids came with me to work all day. They stayed cool and plugged in.

Robert did laundry at the laundromat, found dry and regular ice and set up a series of coolers in the kitchen.

Holly and Trevor leave in eight days for Seattle. I realized we really have to get our state mandated (homeschooling) testing done asap. As in tomorrow.

Wednesday, Day 5 without power

A bit of relief from the heat, relatively. The house got down to 76 degrees, but it's pretty humid out. Most of our neighbors have left. I think we are one of two families still here at the end of our street. Some other yahoo neighbor is running a generator 24/7. Sounds like a tractor under my window. Holly continues to sleep in the basement, and Robert has slept down there for the past two nights.

Cleaned out the refrigerator this morning and discovered that we have loads of condiments. I don't think refrigeration is that vital to most of my condiments, so having lots of them is a good thing. Trevor had two pickles with (not for!) breakfast.

I am really proud of both kids for hanging in there with this. They don't even complain about cold showers, taking them regularly.

At 5:00 tonight, the power kicked back on! Woohoo! This was totally unexpected. Definitely the first thing we used/appreciated was the A/C. And lights! Trevor mentioned his wish to take a hot shower (although he'd taken a cold one just a few hours earlier).

What I really didn't miss: socializing on the internet. Yes, I missed getting my news, but that was it, and that surprises me. Holly, Trevor and I played more board games, and I liked that.  It wasn't all bad.

So we had a delayed/laid back 4^th of July. We ate the corned beef that had defrosted this week. Robert had cooked it in a pot on the barbeque. No side dishes (!), although Robert ate a few stalks of celery, and I made horseradish sauce for the meat. We drank the red/white/blue drinks since we had ice. I made 4^th of July brownies, but it will be very late (11pm) by the time we eat them.

Back to regular life tomorrow.