Water Light
You have to check this out- absolutely awesome stuff:
Spiced Applesauce Bread
Ingredients
* 1 1/4 cups applesauce
* 1 1/4 cup brown sugar
* 1/2 cup canola oil
* 2 eggs
* 3 tablespoons milk
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup chopped pecans
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine the applesauce, sugar, oil, eggs and milk; beat well. Sift in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and salt; stir until smooth. Fold in the pecans. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean.
Time4Learning.com
My son began his second full year as a Time4Learning.com student this morning. I love that I can depend on the site to bring my son a well-balanced curriculum conveniently online. If you need it, there are forums to talk about things with other parents, and the site support is also great. But more than that, I’ve also found that he is learning more than his peers in public school in our area. Major plus, there. Then we have the reality of life in New Orleans that includes common hurricane evacuations. While the other kids are taken out of school while waiting to return home- we have a laptop ‘at the ready’ and my son misses no school.
My desk is positioned right next to my son and I pay attention to his lessons. I consider myself a pretty educated person, and I am even impressed by the things he is learning as well as refreshing myself with his new knowledge as I follow along. I can print certificates for him on the website, as well as grade reports, and proof of enrollment for official purposes.
Time4Learning.com is is fun for my child as well as *good* for my child. He enjoys school at home, I believe far more than if we had chosen a different avenue of homeschooling. I absolutely recommend this site to any homeschooling family or even a family looking for supplemental material at home for their children.
***Time4Learning has given me the opportunity to review their program and share my experiences. Time4Learning is an online educational program that can be used as a homeschool curriculum or for afterschool enrichment. While I was compensated, the content in this review was not written by Time4Learning. The opinion is entirely my own.***
Made notes of good Thomas Jefferson quotes back on Independence Day…
“Every human being must be viewed according to what its good for. For none of us, no not one, is perfect. And were we to love none who had imperfection, this world would be a desert for our love.” -Thomas Jefferson
Some people think it’s stupid to make note of quotes- they hate quotes… they think sharing them is unoriginal. From my perspective, I think it is honorable to share and pass on words that are great- for I know that there has been much greater than me and will continue to be. People have said things that are quite worthy of saying again- and giving the credit due.
I keep journals of quotes. I guess I would annoy those people who hate them. But for the life of me, I don’t ‘get’ how anyone who could enjoy reading, or people in general, and then don’t understand appreciating something they’ve said and repeating it later where it would apply and mean something to someone else. Here’s where we’re all different, once again. I’m one for quotes. Maybe I like history more than others. What’s happened before is not forgotten with me. I live now, as comfortably as I do because someone else before me worked hard to create, learn, build, and love enough for it to be my reality. Their written thoughts and ideas are admirable and precious.
Do you love poetry? Do you love books? Is there any value on words for you? For me- to not appreciate a good quote and only value what I can come up with myself- is probably one of the most egotistical ideas, ever.
“Although they are only breath, words which I command are immortal.” -Sappho
Indeed they are, Sappho… even if some people would rather they never be said again. New words are great, but not to erase and forget the old ones. If we did that- might as well ban books and education in general.
One of the best scenes *ever*…
I don’t think there is a secular cartoon out there today that could get away with this.
P90X
Dear Readers,
Tomorrow I am purchasing the P90X program. I am pretty excited about diving into a exercise routine that will challenge me more than I have been since Marine Corps bootcamp over 18 years ago.
I have been dealing with Fibromyalgia for over a decade- and I am tired of letting it run my life. I want to be in charge. I want to make a serious change- and after reading and watching the experience Cammie Lusk had with it… there’s just no excuse for anyone else. I’m taking back the reigns.
I don’t have a lot of readers right now. And I’m actually pretty happy about that at this point. I told my husband that I wanted to start this and not tell everyone about it. It seems every time we share our goals with people we fall flat on our faces. How about we do this in private and let them notice on their own?
I’ll try to keep my progress updated here on this blog. I’m hoping to get in better shape than I ever was as an active duty Marine. The Corps gave me the mindset to make things happen, it’s always inside me and nothing will ever take that away. I am going to use my Corps, my faith in God, and my respect for life to drive me.
Here’s to success!
Dr. Laura Schlessinger ‘N’ word rant
You can listen to Dr. Laura’s now famed ‘n’ word episode here.
I thought she was extremely insensitive to the lady calling her for genuine advice 
‘Some’ black people use the ‘n’ word, not all. Just like some white people do a lot of things they shouldn’t. Many black people will agree it’s not appropriate for anyone to use- like Bill Cosby, and plenty others. In this case, I don’t believe it’s ‘just a word’. I don’t think that statement could ever apply to such a word as this. I would never, ever dream of slinging it around like that. And even knowing the lady was offended by it- Dr. Laura says “I’ll say it again.. n*, n*, n*.” I don’t think she was being playful or anything. She was just saying it like it was no big deal- then had the gall to say, ‘You should have a sense of humor.’
This lady did not call Dr. Laura calling anyone names, she was hurt by other people- Dr. Laura said the word 11 times. I found her to be the one that was hypersensitive and INsensitive to her caller.
We all have a different perspective on things. I have never been a fan of hers and am not sorry to see her go. Not at all. I found zero care in Dr. Laura at all in that call. Dr. Laura basically told her to suck it up and sad the ‘n’ word 11 times knowing she called about how it made her feel. I just couldn’t see her saying anything worse to a person reaching out for what she thought was going to be helping hand.
It tears me up inside to hear people saying it. And yeah- especially white people – like it’s no bigee. For me its mind-boggling knowing other people don’t view the word the same. I am from a family that is a rainbow of fruit flavors. They are not ‘different’ from me. I will not treat anyone’s heart and spirit different from my own.
I’m just so passionate about humans in general- it’s hard for me to read and hear certain things and be quiet.
I’m sure we all come up with our stances in life based on personal experiences and the ending results. Personally- if something is known to be hurtful to others, I make sure it’s not something I am a part of. I don’t think saying ‘well, other people do it’ is an excuse to join in or make it okay.
Dr. Laura apologized- but now… she is whining about wanting to regain her First Amendment rights. Now, she’s still allowed to say what she said- she’s not being jailed for it. But when you work for a company, like the radio station she airs from, don’t they have a code of conduct? How would they have liked her flinging around the ‘f’ word? The ‘n’ word is worse, in my opinion.
We can say what we want, but in doing so, we have to realize there may be consequences… depending on the words we’ve decide to speak. You may not go to jail, but it still doesn’t make it ‘right’.
Catfish
Early yesterday morning I caught an episode of ‘River Monsters’ on Animal Planet spotlighting the ‘Wels Catfish’ found in Europe. I’ve seen catfish that have gotten huge here in the US, but nothing like these things. On the show, they were catching them around 150 lbs, 6 feet long. Now that’s big. Then I saw this website. Just, amazing.
Thought I’d do a little googling to see our record here in the US and other places for different kinds of catfish.
I’ve seen some really big ones, going to catfish farms with my Dad when I was little- but these fish found outside the US are really beyond anything we could compare. But (once again), even though they might have the biggest… we’ve got the craziest ways of catching them here:
Homeschooling
For various reasons, I decided to pull my 10 year old out of the public school system and begin homeschooling. He had a great nearly 5 years at a top school in our area, but now, at least until high school (maybe after) we’re taking this education on here at home. He has always been a straight A student, well-liked by all the kids, but he’s not really being challenged… and for some reason his reading was being stifled. There’s a program called AR (Accelerated Reader) where they choose any book they want to read that’s in the system, and test on it afterward. He chose 10 novels this year that were far beyond what they considered his level- many of them being 8th grade books, and he ACED all the tests. Even so, he was encouraged to read easier books. No one can ever get me to wrap my head around that. There were a few other things that happened this year that gave me a poor feeling and the calling to make sure his spirit was not crushed. He’ll miss his friends, but we have email and phone calls 
He can still attend his friend’s parties when he’s invited.
I’ve chosen a good curriculum for us to follow, and I am also going to be incorporating material that he craves- mythology, classic literature, foreign languages, and more. These aren’t things they teach in elementary school. I understand why- but my son is a little different. I know everyone thinks their child is, but he and I are on the same page as far as knowledge is concerned. It’s a necessity for every day- learning something new. We have tons of great field trips planned for next year.
Hoping that we’ll be making a short move here soon- this change in our lives will have a chance to be even more positive for us. *Crossing fingers*
Charles Dickens
Did you know Charles Dickens was an ass? Well, he was. I love his novels- and because I have been so enamored by his words, I’ve read about him and watched documentaries to find the heart of his inspiration.
He did have a pretty screwed up childhood. He was forced to work before even reaching his teens due to his father’s debts. His father was actually sent to a prison for those with debts, and the whole family (except Charles) went to the prison with him. And after the debts were settled, his mother decided to keep Charles at work because they still needed the money. Yeah, I can see how that would scar a person. And the dissatisfaction he had with his mother for this totally colored his view of women.
When he was a young man, he fell in love with a beautiful young lady named Maria. They exchanged love letters and poetry proclaiming undying love- but her father would hear nothing of it, she was to marry someone of circumstance, no one like this unknown Charles Dickens.
Several years later Dickens married Elizabeth, and they had 10 children together. The first year the marriage Elizabeth’s younger teenage sister moved in with them to take care of the house and help with the baby, and Charles became infatuated with this young sister-in-law. She actually died that year, and in his arms. He spoke words that could not be mistaken as anything other than romantic about her passing. And from this point on, he’d always compare his wife to this young girl- the never changing, never aging, beautiful, supportive 17 year old. How could an aging wife bearing 10 children compare? He turned into one of those people who couldn’t see anything good in all their abundance- constantly thinking about the other side of the fence and it’s greener grass.
He continued to speak of his unhappiness, and years later, received a letter from his first love, Maria. She wanted to meet with him and catch up on old times. Charles was very excited, and polished himself for the visit, but was completely let down when she came and was revealed to look older, and had gained weight. He was underwhelmed, and even used her in one of his books- describing a character (Flora) cruelly in ‘Little Dorrit’ as, “…had grown to be very broad and short of breath. Flora, who had seemed enchanting in all she said and thought, was diffuse and silly.”
He ended up separating with his wife in later years- making her live in solitude and not even allowing her to see the children. He took up with a much younger, thinner lady- who’s only words known spoken of him were years and years after his death, “I loathed the old man’s touch.” Just desserts, I say.
So here we have, these wonderful stories… from a confused and not so nice man. He actually had redeeming qualities in social reform, but his personal life was in shambles. He had an ‘ideal’ in his creative mind, a beautiful mind that told the tales we’ve adored for generations upon generations- and that ideal must have been just as grand, unattainably grand. I suppose it’s easy to spin a dream and hold on to it, one so large all of reality pales in comparison.