Things Worth Remembering The three habits that lead to success are: Patience, Application, and Vision.
Take care: The person who will tell others' faults to you - will tell yours to others.
It is always better to be underestimated.
There are three things that are better than riches: Health, Freedom, and Honor.
Think swiftly, speak softly, act wisely.
"The world is neither Scottish, English, nor Irish, neither French, Dutch, nor Chinese, but human, and each nation is only the partial development of a universal humanity." - James Grant on founding the National Association for the Vindication of Scottish Rights, 1862
All from: The Book of Celtic Wisdom
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Rune : “We have them on the run, sir…they’re no match for destroyer droids.”
Tey How: “Sir, they’ve gone up the ventilation shaft.”
Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace
It was just too beautiful to be indoors yesterday.
After dropping my brother off at work and grabbing a quick lunch, Padawan Learner and I found ourselves about 30 minutes west of town at a park with a fantastic wooden play structure, trails, enormous map of the US fashioned out of stones, and endless open areas for running, jumping and clamoring around. Flowing games of tag and such were played with whomever was around. As it is Spring Break around here, the park was full of other kids but not packed.
We are slightly sunburned but happy. PL slept until lunch, and I napped on and off during the morning thunderstorms – something I never do.
Qui-Gon Jinn: “Tell them we wish to board at once.”
Radiant VII captain: [on comlink] “Yes, sir. With all due respect, the ambassadors for the Supreme Chancellor wish to board immediately.”
Nute Gunray: “Yes, of course. As you know, our blockade is perfectly legal and we’d be happy to receive the ambassadors. Happy to.”
Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace
My sister-in-law, Queen Jamillia, must have felt that way when we descended on her house last Thursday. One teenaged boy who never stopped eating, two fatigued adults who had just driven across several large Midwestern states, and enough knitting and cross-stitch paraphernalia for an entire legion of visitors.
Dad Windu got several days of uninterrupted relaxing. The weather cooperated nicely, hitting the high 80s, so we spent several hours at the local pool before heading home for grilled steaks and birthday ice cream cones. The backyard and playgrounds were put to good use. My niece, Dormé, got to snuggle up with Dad Windu as much as she liked (her dad is spending the year in a combat zone). My mad knitting skills resulted in Padawan Learner getting a very manly iTouch cozie and my nieces Dormé and Versé got cupcakes and a washcloth/towel set for their play kitchen.
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much needed rest
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cooling off
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like father, like son
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towhead
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cuddle time
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yummy
Best of all, Queen Jamillia got to sleep-in past 6 am for two whole days in a row. Talk about luxury!
“It’s a trap!” - Admiral Ackbar, Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi
When people say “cottage” nowadays at The Lake, they often mean an obnoxiously large structure blocking everyone else’s view that could easily fit a half-dozen families with no one seeing anyone else for days unless a map and a to-the-minute time table was involved. This was not that kind of cottage. This is a real cottage. Three tiny bedrooms, a single small bathroom, an open living room/kitchen area big enough to hold a dozen bodies – just – should the rain begin to pound, a great big brick patio on the back with three swinging chairs, a large table & chair set for meals, and lots of space to move around. Seriously, you’re there for The Lake. Re.mem.ber? Best of all though, it has one of the most fabulous views for which a person could hope.
Obi-Wan Kenobi: “Just relax, concentrate.”
Anakin Skywalker: ”What about Padme?”
Obi-Wan Kenobi: “She seems to be on top of things.”
Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones
Ah, recharged batteries. Not only are they a beautiful thing in a camera, they’re also a beautiful thing in life.
I spent the last week pretty much unplugged, save reading a few blogs, and I enjoyed it very much. Sometimes I forget I can do things other than type. With Padawan Learner’s birthday and our first week off of the summer’s morning lessons, it was a good time to step back and do a few things I had been putting off like laundry reading and crafting and petting cats for more than a moment and hanging out with my two favorite men – add a long holiday weekend into that and so much the better.
Yesterday, I finished my week of pure relaxation with a trip out to The Lake to see Qui-Gon Jinn, Endicott and C-3PO at their cottage. We had a great time trying out the kayaks (well, the guys did – the moms chatted), sitting on the beach, soaking up the sun, having a yummy dinner together and relaxing some more later.
At all times, Indy, Head of Cottage Security, was available to protect us and eat our red licorice. He was prepared, on-guard and in control of the situation at all times, even when it looked like he wasn’t.
“It’s very dangerous, putting them together. I don’t think the boy can handle it. I don’t trust him.” – Mace Windu, Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith
Padawan Learner and his loyal neighborhood buddy, Chewbacca, hit the neighborhood garage sales this morning with a vengeance. It took all he had to get through his piano lesson before hitting the streets. They scootered from one house to another picking up other people’s crap undiscovered treasure for pennies on the pound. Put an Abe Lincoln in your pocket and the garage sale world is your oyster.
About once an hour, he and she would come back and show off their treasures before heading back out for rounds 2-4. The highlight of PL’s day was finding a tiki lamp; don’t ask me why. The lowlight was the complete and total lack of broken electronic equipment for dismantling. Seems our neighbors don’t save and then attempt to sell or give away broken items. Oooh, aren’t we hoity-toity.
Isn’t there some kind of unwritten garage sale law that requires all broken motors, yard machines and consumer electronics to be stored in an old cardboard box until the next garage sale date? How’s a boy supposed to learn how stuff works if he can’t take stuff apart?
“I’m a Toydarian, mind tricks don’t work on me. Only money. No money, no parts, no deal!” – Watto, Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace
Maybe I’m not quite as bad as Watto, but I do love a good deal – especially now that I’m being forced to rein in the budget something fierce. Since I don’t know if everyone else knows about it, I’m going to put in this link to Amazon.com’s bulk-buying Subscribe & Save program. I l.o.v.e this program. Every time I order something from it, I get free shipping and an automatic 15% discount. Woo-hoo!
What reminded me was that I just ordered some more HE detergent for my front-loading washer today. I get paper products (my much beloved Seventh Generation toilet paper, paper towels, and bath tissues, for example), Dad Windu’s favorite face wash (very hit or miss at the grocery store), “lady items” and other such bulky non-perishables this way. I’m a huge fan of buying local and supporting local merchants, but I’m also a big fan of being able to get my weekly groceries on my bicycle (hard to do when you’ve got lots of bulky items) or – if the load is really light – walking there and back. Plus the local grocery doesn’t even stock Seventh Generation stuff (yes, I’ve requested them) – and that bugs the crap out of me! So the the UPS truck pulls up and delivers 6-7 months of TP in a big o’ cardboard box.
To get the great deal, it makes me pick a recurring period (1, 2, 3 or 6 month time frames). That seemed a bit risky until I realized that I can cancel the repeat order immediately after buying something if I want to. They also send you a reminder email about a week before sending out the next shipment, too, so you can skip the upcoming order if you wish. Generally I order everything on the 6 month plan and move the order date back or forward as needed.
I hope this helps some of you out too.
“No you listen! We live in a real world, come back to it.” – Padme, Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones
I have a new calling – budget manager for The City. I’m going to make up this year’s $8,000,000 budget deficit, and then some.
You see, The City planted a tree in my curb lawn on Wednesday. A small, baby linden tree to replace the mature, spreading maple that Padawan Learner loved to climb while he waited for Dad Windu to get home from work. The tree that some jackass distracted driver literally wrapped his giant SUV around nearly 2 years ago, setting it at a jaunty 65 degree angle for 9 months while The City waited “to see if it will make it”.
At 8:45 a.m., a City flatbed truck with two men inside pulled up in front of my house with a backhoe on the trailer. The driver got out of the truck and watched as his passenger climbed up into the backhoe, backed it off and proceeded to dig a hole 3 feet wide and 1.5 feet deep. He returned the backhoe to the trailer and the two men drove away.
At 9:45 a.m., a City pickup truck arrived with two men inside. The driver got out and walked to the front door with a very valuable piece of paper: instructions on caring for my new, baby linden tree. Meanwhile, his passenger took two metal poles out of the bed of the truck and placed dropped them in the newly dug hole. They returned to the truck and drove away.
At 1:20 p.m., two City trucks arrived: a pickup truck (A) full of baby trees sticking up over the back and a water truck (B) filled with The City’s secret formula of water and baby-tree fertilizer. Each truck had a driver and a passenger. Now this is going to get a little tricky, so be sure to pay attention.
The two drivers got out of their respective trucks and watched while Passenger A placed the baby tree in the hole, arranged the poles and guy wires correctly, and covered the roots with the piled up soil. Passenger B stood at the ready with his over-sized garden hose. When the ground was firmly tamped, Passenger B soaked the disturbed soil area well with his proprietary mix. All four men returned to their respective trucks and drove away.
That’s right, The City paid 8 men to plant my small, baby linden tree.
Oh, I should add that two days previously, The City sent another man in a pickup truck out to rake out the bare area where my formerly lovely tree had stood and spread a healthy layer of grass seed down – right where the backhoe dug the hole for the new, baby linden tree on Wednesday.
Now using my advanced degree and keen efficiency skills, I have deduced that the planting of my new, baby tree on Wednesday could have been performed (with a reasonably adequate amount of waste, as required by all government entities) by a total of three men altogether – one per truck, with the stake dropping and instruction giving truck’s tasks handed off to the occupants of Truck B and Truck A respectively.
If we reduced the city workforce by these 5 men alone (6 if we include the counter-productive tasks of the guy who came on Monday to seed my soon-to-be-backhoe’d bare spot), I could immediately save The City approximately $150,000 (or $180,000) without any loss of service to City residents – assuming that each man is paid $30,000 per year.
What efficiencies would you put in place if you were able to get your hands on your city or county’s Budget?
“I can only protect you, I cannot fight a war for you.” – Qui-Gon Jinn, Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace
The weather outside looks like this right now. Please note the grey skies and the bud-less tree branches.
This is unacceptable after such a long, cold winter. It’s April people. A.p.r.i.l.
I need blue skies, bright sunshine, emerald green grass, and tulips galore. The only thing protecting me from succumbing to the pre-Spring blahs at this point is a pair of hand-knit socks from my bestest buddy Eileen.
See how spring-y they are? How bright and cheery? Unless you too are the lucky recipient of hand-knit socks, you can’t comprehend how comfy and cozy they are. I highly recommend you learn to knit, just so you can ensure yourself a steady supply of hand-knit socks – and don’t cheap out on the yarn, go for the good stuff. At the very least, get yourself a knitting friend. Your emotional health may just depend on it.
PS – I highly recommend you learn to knit (or crochet), because then you can join Ravelry!
Lando Calrissian: “Lord Vader, we only use this facility for carbon freezing. If you put him in there it might kill him.”
Darth Vader: “I do not want the Emperor’s prize damaged. We will test it on Captain Solo.”
Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back
Here’s a shout-out to anyone that is getting more and more afraid to look in the back of the pantry or the bottom of the deep-freeze. Kethry announced tonight that she is going to participate in Catz’ Corner’s Use it up April, and so am I. To be honest, I didn’t even know there was such a thing when I decided yesterday to try not do any but the most essential grocery shopping for April, but I think Catz is on to something. Waste is waste and reducing it is in all our best interests. This can only help to s-t-r-e-t-c-h out next month’s lean income and will be a real help in getting us ready for the bounty that will be coming with the next growing season at the CSA.
“Nothing… can stop that now.” – Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker, Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi
There is an desire that rages deep within me, one that has smoldered in my gut since I was about 5 years old and my mother needed something to keep me busy while she tended to a newborn. So really it’s all her fault that I can’t stop playing Solitaire. Seriously, I just played a game there after I wrote those two sentences. Pathetic, isn’t it?
Just its very name makes me feel oozie and happy inside. Normally, my sickness obsession hobby is fine because I don’t carry a deck of cards with me at all times, but we had a little handheld electronic version once and *cough, cough* I wore it out. All I wanted to do was to play it all. the. time. Beep, beep, beep, shoosh.
When we got the iPod Nanos, I thought I was safe because they didn’t have Solitaire in the games section and no other electronic games hold my interest. Then it happened, when I was least expecting it. Padawan Learner told me that Solitaire is on the iPod Nano, it’s just called Klondike. The name Solitaire is trademarked now?
I have set up rules to keep myself under control. How sad is that? Solitaire Klondike times include: while PL is at trampoline class and while Dad Windu is driving. Sometimes I sneak in a game (or five) in the evening while everyone else is otherwise occupied…if my housework, etc. is done for the day.
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Secular Homeschoolers Unite!
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