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7/31/2008 I was rightThe meeting we had last night at the church WAS long. from 7pm until 9:30. I was the one that said I want to go home, but I think everyone was pretty ready to go. I don't know how much longer it would have lasted. We took Payton with us and I was so worried he would get bored and start disrupting the meeting, but he was really good. Excellent even. Not hardly a peep out of him and he didn't disrupt the meeting at all. I was very proud of him.
But I am so glad I printed off the things I did. We used half of one of the mission statements I brought and the other half was from the Harlan Church's Mission Statement. And I couldn't believe it, but they adopted the Rotation Sunday School idea without much debate at all. Our first session will be "Let the Children come unto Me". I was expecting that they would say "oh that's a nice idea but there is no way we can do something like that". But maybe because I had the whole concept of the rotation sunday school printed out it made it easier to understand and adopt, and no one else had a firm all-encompassing plan to offer- mostly just good singular ideas which we probably will be incorperating into the Rotation program.
And I think I will probably get sucked into teaching this year as much as I don't like that sort of thing. Last year I was going to Adult Bible School. Which had it's good moments... but on the whole I didn't feel like I got as much out of it as maybe I should or could have. I'm pretty hard to please in that area, because I prefer learning about hidden aspects of scripture that may not be apparant- and I think most of the other people in class prefered a more cathartic approach where they can share personal experiences and feelings. I dislike sharing feelings, especially in a group setting.
Today it is going to be a steamy 92 degrees. I already ran this morning at 5:45 and I was still drenched in sweat. Payton may want to go to the beach again, but I don't know if I will want to! But today being the last day of the month I have to do Payroll for the church and run the money into town, and do a few more errands so maybe we'll get all dressed up for the beach and go after that.
 7/30/2008 Cats and Church MeetingsI got a picture of all 4 cats together on the porch. It's hard to do because when the kittens see me they scatter.
Tonight we have a meeting at church to discuss our Safe Sanctuary policy and I think it has also turned into a meeting on Sunday School. So both Tim and I are going. I hope that we are able to work through this quickly without a lot of pointless meandering conversation. In preparing for tonight's meeting, I did come across a Sunday School idea that I had not seen before but I guess is very popular now. It's called "Rotation Sunday School" and it is set up a lot like Bible School. I printed that info out to bring along. I also printed out some Mission Statement samples other churches were using for their Safe Sanctuary policies in the hopes that would speed up that part a little too. I would hope that we just copy one, adapt it for our own church, and use that rather than try to fuss over each and every little word from scratch. If you can't tell I am already thinking that this meeting will go on for hours and hours. 7/29/2008 CookbookSome of you may know I have compiled all my best recipes in a large three ring binder, shown below complete with tabbed categories. Then I thought, I should really have these in the computer too- so I have been working at copying them into word files so I have the hard copy in my binder but also a copy saved on the computer. But then I thought, wouldn't it be great to also have photos? So I started taking photos when I would make something and added the photos to my Word files. Then I got another good idea...
7/28/2008 They are still hereThe kittens who disappeared under the deck once I let them go, are still there. I didn't see them for the rest of the day but at night I saw them all playing on and around the deck. Sawyer who normally disappears sporadically throughout the day stayed on the deck all day and all night with the kittens. He really is quite the motherly tom-cat. Today I noticed him taking one of the kittens for a walk. He waited while the kitten was sniffing around and then the kitten would come back to Sawyer and he would proceed with the "tour". I had no idea a tom cat would act this way with kittens. I was told that these kittens most likely are his own biological offspring... there is no way to tell for sure of course, but he does treat them like it. I am really glad we adopted Sawyer with the kittens. I think he will make all the difference. I think he will be a great protector and teacher for them.
7/27/2008 catsI released my last three cats from the cage today. I HOPE they will stick around. They still weren't entirely friendly to me, but they had been cooped up for a month and I doubt any more time would make things any better. They came out of the cat carrier and immediately went to go hide under the deck. I hope that Sawyer will "show them the ropes" since he has been outside now for about a week. Time will tell. The kittens really love Sawyer (the adult tom cat) and I hope he will help them understand they need to stick around here.
We have really been loving Sawyer too. He is so friendly- even with Payton. Although he doesn't seem interested in scaring away rabbits, his great personality more than makes up for this.
 7/26/2008 FoodToday we all went to the beach, and had it to ourselves for a little bit at least. It wasn't so hot, mostly overcast for the morning hours, and that is probably why it didn't start getting full until 11:30. We left about noon or so. When we got home we decided to grill. I had a lot of various meats in the deep freeze, and we settled on some pork. I'm not a huge pork fan, but we had them so we made them. Four 5 oz pieces. They weren't that big, so we made all 4. And they weren't bad, not my favorite but not gross at all. Payton even ate some (We told him it was steak). But the most surprising thing is that he was so hungry before lunch I gave him some lettuce and shredded cheese on his plate... Assuming that he would say "I don't like that" and then go wait in the living room until the food was done grilling. Well he surprised me. He not only ate his lettuce but he wanted seconds and thirds of it. He has never eaten lettuce for me before. I also tried a PLUOT. And it was ok. Nothing really exceptional about it, except when cut open, the fruit looks like raw meat- it has that same bright red color and a white-ish marbling look to it. But it defintely had more of the plum flavor than the apricot flavor.
 7/25/2008 Pluots? So What is a Pluot?
Today in my Share Iowa grocery package were the usual fruits and veggies.... The lettuce, the tomatoes, the oranges, the Kiwis... and then some weird fruit called a Pluot. It was shaped and sized like a peach, maybe a big plum.... Well I find out that a Pluot is a cross between a plum and and apricot. Having the taste of a plum with apricot overtones. I also learned they make something called a Plucots which are the reverse, more of the apricot flavor. There is even such a thing as Apriums. Who knew. My own Pluots don't appear quite ripe yet. They are still a little firm to the touch. So I don't want to sample just now. I can't say Plums or Apricots are my favorite fruit, but I am curious to see what this hybrid tastes like.
I wish they could cross citrus fruits and other fruits. I'd love to see what an Orange Strawberry combo would taste like. Or crossing a banana and a strawberry. I don't think that is possible except in a blender at this time.
7/24/2008 Raining, can't go to the beach againWe were going to go to the beach today, but it is raining this morning... so that ends that plan.
Instead I decided to teach Payton a "really cool math trick" as I put it. He loves math a lot, and had progressed pretty far. He can do basic 1 digit addition and subtraction, we even have introduced some very basic multiplication. But today I showed him how to add large numbers together like 57 + 12. He caught on right away, and thought it was pretty cool. He immediatly asked to try a quadrillion plus a trillion. So I wrote out a very long number, and one below that and we set to work. It took about 5 mintues to get through the whole thing, but he did it- and seemed very pleased with himself. I hope this love of math contiunes. Right now he just thinks it is a fun game. As for myself, I am miserable at math, but maybe if Payton likes it I can learn right along with him when he gets older and starts doing algebra and geometry.
Oh and last night the raccoons invaded. I had been sitting the cat dish out for Sawyer and it only took a few days for the raccoons to catch on. We had 7 on the porch last night. I shoo-ed them away and took in the cat food. I will have to take in the food every night from now on.
leapard vs crocodile
7/23/2008 beach dayPayton and I spent all morning at the Willow Lake beach. We had it to ourselves for most of the time too, which is always nice. It seems like when we go and there are other people there, the other kids are drawn like a magnet to us, and quite frankly I don't want to babysit other people's kids. I can't be the only one who experiences this phenomena. When Payton learns how to swim this won't be such an issue because I can go and let him play and not worry.
Anyway, the water was very warm even being morning. We could have gone earlier and it still would have been fine I think. So we built sandcastles, then we swam together for a bit, then for the last hour we were there I layed on my towel and Payton occupied hiimself by playing in the sand. It was truely nice, being alone- I didn't have to watch Payton as carefully- it was actually relaxing.
 7/22/2008 stuffI saw a promo for a new show "I want to work for P Diddy". When I see that some celebrity is getting a reality show it automatically makes me think one of two things: They need some quick cash and couldn't find any real jobs, or they know they are becoming a has-been and are trying not to be. Either way I am not much of a fan of that genre of shows.
My new cat Sawyer, whom I released from his cage not to very long ago is still doing well, but he does not seem interested in chasing rabbits away. I was hoping he would be, but he seems ok with just laying around. I even showed him a rabbit. We snuck up on him together, me holding Sawyer and creeping ever closer. I put Sawyer down and he did "lock on" visually to the rabbit... but then flopped down on my feet and rolled over to have his belly scratched. Not exactly striking terror into the rodent population. He is such a friendly cat though, perhaps he will try to befriend the bunnies rather than chase them away.
Oh, and I found an online game that was very addictive. I had to play it until I solved all 20 levels. It took 2 days of playing it sporadically, but I did it.
Why do people do this? they can't be functional in any way.
 7/20/2008 Badger and a Mystery AnimalIn my last entry I forgot to mention the Badger sighting. Tim spotted the badger waddling down our front yard to the road and then crossing the road into the field on the other side. I know there are badgers in the area, because I had seen them dead from time to time along the road. But I had never seen one on our property. I don't know where he is living but there are probably plenty of places. There are lots of areas we don't walk around in. I can't say I am a fan of badgers... but I guess as long as he leaves us alone we will do the same- that and I don't know where his burrow is and even if I did- I wouldn't want to go near it.
Then tonight from the back of the house I saw some other mystery animal running from the bush by the back of the house, to the "Chicken Coop" building as we call it... then he stopped, turned and ran into the timber. He was faster than the badger, and seemingly a lot smaller. Grey in color. Definitely not a rabbit by the way he ran. I almost would say he looked like a small raccon without the bushy tail. Maybe could have been a muskrat? He was about the size of a fully grown cat, and he was very squatty- low to the ground. Anyone have any ideas on what this could be? I was far enough away I only saw him from behind running, so I didn't see the facial features.
Now I guess all that is left to see is a Mountain Lion. No thanks.
 SundayNot much going on today. We cleaned the laundry/storage room out. I am making Monkey Bread (for the first time). And that is about it for today. Tomorrow I have a doctor's appointment to draw blood to check my thyroid. My thyroid is (or was) mostly ok, but because it had dipped into the "danger level" last year they have to keep periodically doing tests. Most likely everything will check out fine. Payton has a doctor appointment Tuesday to check out his bowel problem. The doctor still is pretty sure his problems are "self induced" but wants to double check to rule out any other more serious problem. He may have some abdominal X-Rays scheduled if she thinks there may even be a hint of problem.
 7/19/2008 Shopping DayThe three of us went grocery shopping today at the super Walmart in the city. I gave Payton his own "list" which consisted of photos of 4 different items, and I sent he and Tim off to get those things while I got the other things on the list. This seemed to work well in that he (Payton) wasn't bored, and by the time he got the 4th item on the list, I was almost done shopping. My thinking was for this to be sort of like a scavenger hunt.
I was concerned that the prices would be higher, we haven't gone shopping in a month. But there wasn't a huge jump in pricing except for milk... 3.28 a gallon and last month it was 2.99. But this is still better than getting it in our local grocery store where it is $4.15 a gallon. $4.15 is pretty ridiculous. That is almost $1 more.
 7/18/2008 CatsAs per usual when any "big" stressful event gets over with I get the migrane. VBS wrapped up last night, and I got a migrane. I still have a lingering headache today even.
I decided today was the day to release Sawyer, our big orange Tom cat (Get it- Tom Sawyer?). I have had 4 cats in cages in my garage for about a month, trying to acclimate them to our property and to me. The three kittens still don't care for me too much, but the big Tom cat has always been friendly. So I thought it was time he had some freedom today. After letting him out of the cage he obediently followed me around the side of the house to the back porch where I had some food already set out for him. I pet him for awhile and then went back inside. Periodically throughout the day I have been going on the back porch and calling him, and he comes running... so I think he is already trained on what he needs to know. The only thing I worry about is tonight we are having storms and I hope he will know the good places to go to wait them out, under the porch or under the shed- or in the little "cat house" I made on the porch. I am sure he isn't so dumb he would just stay out in the rain, but being his first day as a free cat I would hate for him to get scared and bolt off.
The three kittens will have to be released in a week or two... so I don't have long to get them to like me. I had started taking them one by one inside the house with me to pet for brief periods. This seems to have helped- a little. We will see.
 7/17/2008 Last day VBSToday is the last day of VBS. And tomorrow is the last day of swimming, and I am pretty glad about it. We can go back to normal. Then school will start up in less than a month.
 7/16/2008 Only two more days left / a HOOLIGAN is looseOnly two more days left of Vacation Bible School. I am learning a lot about the various types of kids, and what happens when you put the kids together. I also have come to learn that Payton is actually fairly well behaved if he is in a structured setting. Before VBS he'll run around with the few kids that get there early... And how could I expect him to sit when there are 3-4 other kids laughing and running around calling him to play with them... but when he was in the classes he sat, did what he was supposed to and I hardly heard a peep out of him- even while the other kids were hollering or chattering or in some cases up and running around. The only thing I was disappointed in is that in sometimes he would not go to class right away and he clung to Tim until Tim delivered him somewhere personally, but if neither of us had been there I think he would have just gone to class without fuss.
And we had a controversy I found out last night. Some kid (we don't really know who because no one saw anything)... was up in the supply room where we keep our supplies and got glue and glitter EVERYWHERE. There was glitter glued to the work table in big glops. There was glitter glued to a wooden chair. There was glitter on the floor... it was a horrifying mess. Not only that, but that the kid didn't clean anything up or even make an attempt. The open glitter containers were all over... one laying open on the floor it's contents spilled. Glitter and glue spatters all over a ream of contruction paper... and I also noted some of the "nice" set of big fat permanent markers we had are now missing. That is just what we would need to be having loose in a church! I just couldn't believe it. If that kid would do that to a church... then what must they be like at home? Anyway I tried cleaning some of it up last night but not having a vaccuum to use or a scraper to get the glue up, I couldn't do it all. So I put as much glitter back in the containers as I could, threw out the ruined pieces of construction paper and called it a day.
To see more of these "sculptures with food" go to: http://desicolours.com/creative-art-with-fruits-n-veggies/03/07/2008/  7/13/2008 VBSNow I have added in the rest of the photos taken tonight at the first day of Vacation Bible School. It was ok. I was disappointed with the turnout... but I have been reminded several times that there are always more kids the next night and the next night and so on. I really don't have any comparison for how it went because I have never helped with VBS before. My area was Crafts, and I stayed there the entire night so I can't say how the rest of bibleschool went. Crafts were ok I suppose. IAs I said, I really have no comparison since this was the first year helping. I can say that crafts were messy. That much is certain. It took 45 mintues to clean up even with lots of volunteers.
FinallyI changed the photo album up top. I added the rest of the grandma Ruth photos, as well as some extras and what our VBS set up looks like. Tonight is the first night of VBS.
 7/11/2008 fun on the internetI just found out how to edit any website (with humorous results.) The changes are not permanent and can only be viewed by the computer doing the altering... but it is really weird to be able to edit a website in your web browser. And I could see the potential for some practical jokes since just by looking at it you can't tell it isn't the "real" thing. If anyone wants to know how to do this I'll be happy to share.
I was going to edit Obama's official campaign site, but it was down. So I opted for the drugde report instead. I could have changed the photos (I think) but I didn't.  7/10/2008 SwitchingThey switched Paytons' class to 10:45. This was (I think) a move to sort out the two 4 year old classes they had. They broke up the "advanced" 4 year olds who can dive underwater and who already know how to swim from the regular 4 year olds. So the advance class goes at 10:00 and Payton's class now goes at 10:45.
Payton still does not like to go underwater. He HATES getting water in his eyes. But he is willing to jump off the side of the big pool (if someone promises to catch him) and today he was practicing his various kicks in the big pool, which made me proud since not all the kids would do that yet. In order to "Pass" the class he will need to completely submerge, do a back float and a front float.
How many times do I have to tell you? A Lightsabre is not a toy!
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