In the Middle of Things

I am in the middle of reading five different books.  I hate it when I get out of control like this because I wind up not finishing a lot of the books.  It is a bad habit I revert to, I think because I am actually ADD. So unless a book is all consuming, it takes real discipline on my part to finish it.  And I am okay with trying out a book and realizing that I just don't care enough about it, or there is something bothersome about it, that makes it not worth completing, but when I start not finishing books that I actually do want to finish - that is a different story.

So right now I am reading:

Laddie by Gene Stratton-Porter - a charming Victorian/homesteader novel based on Stratton-Porter's own childhood.

33 Days to Morning Glory by Father Michael Gaitley - this is a wonderful book I'm reading with a church group.

The Element by Sir Ken Robinson - this is a thought-provoking book that really examines what education could and should be.  I don't always quite agree with Sir Ken but he is thoughtful, refreshing and funny to read.  I keep pecking away at the book though even though I should have finished it by now.  For some reason, I can only read a bit at a time.  I definitely feel ADD when I am reading it.

Unschooling Rules by Clark Aldrich - I've heard this book mentioned a million times by unschooly people.  I finally got a copy - but again, I peck at it now and again.  It isn't the type of book you sit and read from cover to cover in a linear fashion.  Or at least to me, it isn't that type.

The Sinner's Guide to NFP by Simcha Fisher - ok, first I can't get over my astonishment at the 'balls' that it took to write this book when you have had nine children in 15 years of marriage.  So whenever I start this book I have trouble with the premise that the author (who is hysterically funny) ever really practiced any NFP at all.  I keep starting this book and then my astonishment rises up and I think, I can not take this seriously!  I understand being a sinner but writing a guide about something you were to all appearances a complete failure at just strikes me as a little too absurd.  I admit, I have not gotten very far at all into the book, so my initial reaction could be all wrong.  I was actually thinking of maybe giving this book to Hannah possibly but would that be icky?  What is appropriate when your daughter is about to get married?  I asked Rick and he said no don't give it but he has always been more squeamish in terms of talking about sex than I have (even though he's the more liberated non-Catholic who doesn't mind sex in movies whereas I am the more 'prudish' one because I adhere to Catholic teaching and don't like movies that exploit sex.)

In addition to this I've started two Teaching Company lecture series.  One is called The Rise and Fall of the British Empire with my favorite professor, Patrick Allitt.  However, Rick wanted to watch it with me.  When we watch together, usually we watch at night in bed before we fall asleep.  However, Rick is into Game of Thrones big time right now.  So he's always reading that.  We've only seen the first two lectures and that was at my request.  So I think I have to be patient and wait until he is finished the books before we can continue watching with any regularity.

The other lecture series is call Medical Myths, etc which tries to examine all the many medical ideas that are floating around in popular culture like homeopathy, the anti-vaccine movement, etc. etc.  I started out really enthusiastic about it, because I have been so inculturated into the ideas of Weston Price and gluten-sensitivity and that sort of thing that I have stopped really questioning things as I should.  However, I've gotten to some lectures where I've thought, the trouble is that science hasn't solved or even begun to solve certain problems.  In fact it is pretty lame in some areas, so no wonder people have resorted to counter measures or folk remedies.  Nature abhors a vacuum.  You have no idea why autism is suddenly a burgeoning occurrence but you are sure that x, y and z don't cause it?  That is no comfort to the parents at all.  I think it is because medicine/science is presented in our culture as so powerful and knowledgeable and in many ways it is but it is also very limited and takes a very long time to figure things out.  And speaking of limitations,  the truth is scientists get stuff wrong and doctors who went to the same medical schools this guy did are promoting things that this teacher says are wrong.  Things are always evolving and reports of the most recent studies often contradict previous studies.  So in other words it is impossible for the layman to distinguish truth from fiction.  Dr. Novella keeps saying you have to look at the consensus of opinion among all the studies that have been done right which makes perfect sense, except that there is a lot of politics going on within those studies.  We'll hear about one study for years only to find that some other scientist says it turns out it was wrong due to such and such factor.  I thought his lecture on ADHD was especially weak.  Rick was listening to part of one lecture where the teacher was explaining confirmation bias and he laughed out loud and said this guy has confirmation bias all over him!  So now I am having trouble working up enthusiasm to finish the lecture series.  Actually, I might listen to the next lecture right now - it will discipline me to keep my mind open at least a little bit.

Eating rules

Well, I am going to try, once again, for the one millionth time, to try to get  handle on establishing healthy eating habits.

So here's reiteration of my general guidelines.  I know if I do this I lose weight.  I know when I abandon this, my weight goes up and I feel lousy.

Eating Rules:

Refined sugars only 1x a week (Sunday morning)

Eat fruit, use honey or syrup if I have a sweet craving

1 glass of wine per week (Friday nights?)

Remember to drink lots of water - so important!

Eat at least fruit 2x a day and veggies 3x a day

1 salad and two veggies

Breakfast:

Yogurt with fruit and honey

Oatmeal with a little syrup, nuts, fruit

Eggs, fruit

Lunch

Chicken broth or

Soup

Salad with protein, sesame crackers

Snack:

Nuts

Fruit

Veggies

Dinner:

Eat veggies first and fill up plate

Protein

Starch

Reduce bread intake – only whole grains

Drink coffee black

Eat healthfully - lots of veggies

When I plan dinner, think of the veggies first

Portion control

Do not let certain foods in the house (pies, cakes, cookies)

Record what I eat

Avoid fast and processed foods

Exercise – walk, yoga, elliptical - Record what I do 

Weigh once a week on Saturday morning

Goal 1 lb per week

To get started, I need to clean out my fridge and plan groceries and get my kitchen organized a little bit to make all this easier.  On Wednesday I took Guille into D.C. and we walked for hours through both the Air and Space Museum and the National Art Gallery.  Today I'll either walk outside since it isn't too hot or I'll try the elliptical while listening to a Teaching Co. course.

What We've Been Up To - 7/15/14

Life is rollicking along!  Becky just finished her 3.5 week theater camp, putting on the musical Peter Pan, Jr.  I think it will always be a highlight she'll remember in her life.  It was one of those times where everything came together beautifully.  They had 65 kids in the cast.  All the staff were seasoned community theater people with the biggest hearts you ever saw.  It was just one loving, supportive, full of life team.  The guy who was the MC, a older man, maybe in his seventies, who obviously had spent his life in theater, wrote a beautiful moving poem about how sad everyone was that it was over.  It was amazing!  People in their 70s right down to 8 year olds, all worked together joyfully, some Christians, some not Christians, various ethnic groups and it was all about unity!

Becky was a mermaid and she was the best best mermaid.  She really was!  I can not find my charger for my camera of course.  And my cell phone broke.  When I can figure out how to put photos that someone shared with me on email.  I will post them!

And what was really fun was Becky turned 13 on Saturday.  The day she had two shows to do.  It was a busy day.  It started Friday night after the first performance. All the kids were so excited.  So we wound up going to an IHOP.  The cast members who were still there at midnight sang happy birthday to her.  She slept in on Saturday morning, but then had to get up and go to rehearsal by noon.  The show was at 2:00 and Granddad, Peggy, Tom, Susan, Theo, Andrea, Rick and Sean all went to see her.  They came home and we had an early supper and cupcakes and sang happy birthday.  She got some presents and then off she went again for the next show.  I was there at the Friday night show and I also went to the Saturday night one.  Hannah, Peter, Guille (our Argentina student) and then much to my surprise and delight, my sister Lisa joined us too.  And as another nice surprise a group of girls from Becky's AHG troop were there as well.

We went right home after that performance, so Becky could get some sleep (though sleeping is hard when you are on such a high!).  We got up and went to 10:00 Mass (which was beautiful! The choir outdid themselves).  Then Becky and I grabbed a quick early lunch and off she went again to her last performance.  She didn't want me there, for some reason.  But her friend Stephanie came to the show.

In the midst of all this, Guille, our student from Argentina arrived.  He's been here one week now.  He is really nice and pleasant.   I didn't know it, but in his school, they give a free trip to the U.S. for the student with the highest GPA.  Actually, Guille, said there were 3 students with the same GPA so the principal chose him!  I can see why.  Nicest guy in the world!  So far with Guille we've taken him to Great Falls, taken him to several grocery stores, a nice trip to Target, Chick fil a (to witness people dressed as cows to get free meals; it was dress as a cow day), 7-11 - to get that quintessential American drink:  a slurpee.  It was free slurpee day too.  I think he thinks the U.S. is just full of gimmicks to get free food.  I took him to Trader Joe's and there was free coffee and they were giving taste tests for their ice cream.  America is great!  LOL!  He just likes to get in the car and drive around too.  He saw Becky's play and Hannah and Peter took him bowling once.  I do think he's a little bored because during the down time, Sean isn't especially friendly.  It is a bit of a strain suddenly having to live with another person 24/7, especially if that other person doesn't speak very good English.  Today though, I am taking the boys to Bull Run while Becky goes to cupcake camp.  Then tomorrow I plan to take him into Washington to see Ford's Theater among other sites.  The weather is supposed to be a good bit cooler.  Rick is hoping to get off work on Thursday and wants to take Guille out on the boat.  Josh is going too and maybe Hannah.

Friday we might do more sightseeing, if he isn't too tired and this weekend, we are planning to meet up with Lisa and her son at Harper's Ferry for some tubing fun.  So this coming week should be good!

Josh is still happy in his work at the marina.  He is a good boy.  Seano hangs out with Guille, until he can't anymore, LOL.  Then he practices his yo yo tricks, is teaching himself to juggle, or he watches all his favorite youtube channels and reports back on what he has learned, he's also been into revisiting an old game he hasn't played for a while:  some Castlevania one.  He's also been into poker and figuring out odds.  He has played games with Guille but he wins all the time.  I've played chess with him several times lately.  I never, ever win against him.

Hannah addressed all her wedding invitations!  Peter has a new temp job; don't know the details though.  Will seems to be doing well up in Boston.  He calls every day which is wonderful.  Rick was incredibly busy up until Friday.  Now things have settled down a bit, so that's nice.  I was worried about all the stress and lack of sleep for him.  We are not getting any younger!

And today I really must finish filling out Becky's forms for AHG camp.  She's going away the last week in July.

Chip the Dam Builder - Book 27

Don't judge me!  I read a children's chapter book called Chip, the Dam Builder.  Let me tell you how it happened.  I was flipping through channels one day and I stumbled upon some news station (C-Span?) covering a National Press Breakfast or something like that.  Their featured speaker was Dr. Ben Carson.  I have a special fondness for Dr. Carson.  Part of the time I lived in Baltimore, I was down the street from the Johns Hopkins Campus.  Dr. Carson is a local celebrity in those parts.  I remember going to the Baltimore City library and seeing his books and a picture book about him displayed there.  Then a few years ago I watched the movie Gifted Hands which was quite good.

Anyway, I only caught the very last question asked to Dr. Carson.  Someone asked him the single most influential book in his life, after the Bible.  And he answered the funniest answer right away, like he didn't even have to think about it, but he was a little embarrassed:  Chip the Dam Builder.  He gave a quick reason why in the 20 seconds he had left.  He said that he read the book in 5th grade and that was the one that opened up science to him.  The book is a story about a beaver colony led by Chip.  It explains the beaver's life and hardships without anthropomorphizing them too much.  He said that book made him look into other books about science.  Soon he discovered geology and became fascinated by that subject.  Then one day in 5th grade, his teacher began a lesson on rocks and Dr. Carson, who had been a shy, quiet and scared kid up until that moment, suddenly got animated and forgot to be shy.  He happily told the teacher everything about geology that he knew with great enthusiasm.  When Dr. Carson looked around the classroom he saw the kids looking at him with admiration, like, wow that quiet kid knows stuff!  And this is what inspired Dr. Carson to really take school seriously.

Well, I immediately went and looked up Chip the Dam Builder and to my happy surprise it was written by one of my favorite authors as a child, Jim Kjelgaard!  I loved his Big Red and other dog books.  I don't remember reading Chip, but if it was in my local library growing up, I probably did as I think I read every book they had by Kjelgaard.  Suddenly I just had to have Chip myself.  So I bought a copy used through Amazon.

Do they write children's books like this anymore? The book assumes the child is intelligent and can handle literary language.  There is no talking down to them, no cutesy stuff.  There are hardly any pictures, except some simply but lovely black and white illustrations.  It explains what life is like as a beaver:  lots of danger and instinct that drives the beaver to protect his family while also changing the landscape around him.  We learn about all sorts of river and stream life and also the bad and good encounters with man.

I was sad to see that Kjelgaard killed himself in 1959.  How sad.  I would love to know more about him.

Two thumbs up for both a nice nostalgic return to childhood and just a quality book about nature.

For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

The Conservative Tradition

One reason I have fallen behind in my reading (only finished book 26 when it is week 28!  Horrors) is that I have been binge watching a Teaching Company course called The Conservative Tradition taught by one of my favorite lecturers, Professor Patrick Allitt.  Professor Allitt, as always, comes off as genial, really smart, and objective.  He traces the history of what political conservatism means from the Glorious Revolution in England up to about the year 2000.  He switches back forth between British history and U.S. history so that there is a certain element of comparing and contrasting going on, which is quite illuminating.

Professor Allitt's schtick is that he doesn't want you to know how he personally thinks of things but attempts to give an objective account of his subject matter.  He lays it all out- the good, the bad and the ugly.  He begins by defining conservatism.  Some of that definition includes a reverence for tradition and the past, a disinclination to believe policies that smack of utopian ideas - for instance the belief that humans will always war because they always have and therefore it makes sense to provide for that.  And also the idea that conservatism is always in reaction to what is going on in society.  It isn't that conservatives don't want to change,  change is part of nature, but they want to change very cautiously.

Sometimes conservatives get it all wrong, like slavery, or not allowing women the right to vote, but other times their fears of what will happen if certain policies are put into place, really do come true, like with contraception or abortion.  Sometimes, economically they prove to be right as well, as in the case of England's socialized industries that became more and more inefficient and placed a greater and greater tax burden on her citizens in the 1970s.  Thatcher, unafraid of being unpopular, denationalized the industries and even though Britain went through a terrible short-term period of high unemployment, they came through it with a stronger economy.  But not all conservatives believe the same things!

Allitt goes points out that the original conservatives were the landed gentry who thought Adam Smith was an upstart.  Now, of course, conservatives are those who are seen to really embrace the idea of the free market economy.  There are different sorts of conservatives - the traditional conservative, perhaps William F. Buckley might embody that line of thinking.  Then there are the agrarian conservatives who look back to the farming culture with a decentralized government.  Neo-conservatives are ex-liberals who maybe don't have a problem with big central government as long as it is promoting certain ideas, like a strong military.  Then there are the isolationist conservatives.  Paleoconservatives also revere tradition but they are anti-big government and frankly, I don't quite know how they differ from traditional conservatives.  Theoconservatives are people who think we are going to hell in a handbasket because we've abandoned our Judeo-Christian roots.

I am all and none of the above!

One thing that really surprised me is that Allitt refers to not one, but two professors from the University of Dallas.  The first one was Frederick Wilhelmson who was a Catholic political commentator and writer.  He was friends with Marshall Mcluhan who spent time at UD as well!  I never knew that!  The other professor Allitt mentions is Mel Branford.  This guy made me mad!  So he was the one who promulgated the idea that Abraham Lincoln was a bad guy who broke the law, brutally enforced the suspension of habeas corpus, etc.  I had never heard of this perception of Lincoln until I started hanging with conservative, states rights people.  It still sticks in my craw!  And then there are the Libertarians who don't quite fit into the conservative mold, except when they do.

All this is just the American development of conservatism.  The English development is different because England faced different challenges.

Since I watched this whole lecture series so quickly, I really need to go back and re-watch it to really get a fuller understanding of the particulars.

I think because I am a practicing Catholic and a lover of classical education, I am naturally conservative in that I look to the Ancients, both pagan and Christian to understand life's meaning.  On the other hand I seriously question but maybe remain somewhat indecisive about the best course of action on certain contemporary issues.  For instance, is gun ownership really more important than protecting innocent people from murder?  Is it wrong to think that people are people first and not care that much about illegal immigration, especially when anybody can see those who are illegal immigrants are escaping a desperate situation in their own countries?  Also, I am socially conservative in that I think abortion is murder and that sex is for marriage between a man and woman.  I'd be for national healthcare if I could bring myself to trust an obviously untrustworthy government.  So I guess I am in the conservative camp, except that I find an awful lot of what conservatives spout obnoxious.  I am not a total free market person.  I think we need to alway be balancing the freedom with sensible regulation.

Anyway, it is a complex political camp, that has some real noble inclinations and wisdom that I have natural admiration for, but it also has a lot of backward thinking and extremism as well.

I really like Professor Allitt.   He wants to teach both liberals and conservatives the history of an important political force in human history.  Since I grew up not even realizing how biased my education was towards all things liberal, even now I experience dissonance when I hear a point of view that I had always been taught to disdain, and realize that it is actually a reasonable position, that I may or may not agree with.  Prof. Allitt stops the course at about the year 2000 because he says, he is an historian not a journalist, though he does mention the election of 2008.  He says for those who might be despairing over the results of that election, they should be comforted in the fact that conservatism is a natural human impulse that is never going to go away.

A really excellent course by an excellent professor!

Celia Garth - Book 26

Celia Garth, by Gwen Bristow, was published in 1959 and apparently is a great favorite of those who love historical romances, which is why it is being republished in the Rediscovered Classics series.  I had never heard of it nor the author before.  It is set in Revolutionary America during the siege of Charleston and is about 19 year old Celia, a poor relation, who must work for a living.  She sews for the fashionable dress shop in Charleston, Mrs. Thorley's.  She is a gifted seamstress but she can not show her talents for Mrs. Thorley is very rigid about what new girls will be allowed to do in her shop.  Celia is sure she can sew the most fashionable dresses out there in Charleston society.  The American Revolution has been going on for some time now but Celia was out in the country when the last local skirmish happened which ended in a British defeat.  The war seems to be happening to other people and the people in Charleston are barely inconvenienced and only dimly aware, that is, that is how Celia sees things.

But then things start heating up.  The British are getting ready to lay siege to Charleston.  Just as this happens Celia finds herself in love with Jimmy Rand, a kind, intelligent young man of a fairly well to do family; a warm and loving family, which is something Celia has never known and for which she longs.   Her own parents died when she was very young and she was raised quite resentfully by an Aunt.  She doesn't get along at all with her aunt's son with whom she grew up.

Celia is a courageous girl who we can see maturing during the course of the book.  She faces terribly tragedy, becomes a spy for the rebels, struggles with despair and loneliness and well, I won't tell you the ending!

The book is written in a very straightforward way.  The plot is well developed and the characters are well developed as well, in a young adult novel sort of way.   I can see this being a favorite of young ladies who love historical novels.  For me,  I found it a little plodding and simplistic.  I wished for deeper language.  The wording often struck me a bit anachronistic as did Celia's character, though the details of everyday life and all the military happenings seemed very accurate to me.  But you would never have known that slavery existed or was a bad thing.  The 'Negro' help were all warmly bound to their white masters and bravely fighting the British for them.  That part did not strike me as realistic.  And right at the climax when a certain gentleman (who works under General Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox), who you know has a thing for Celia, reveals his feelings, well, it struck me as a little creepy.  So that just didn't work for me.

I'd give this book a B.  It is better than average, very clean, but not excellent.

For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

Just a few things - cleaning, etc.

I changed the template for this blog (if you haven't noticed)!.  Something summery.  I am just into housekeeping all over.

My house still has deep pockets of clutter though.  I just move so very slowly through all this.  It's like torture to me to do this stuff.  But I truly am slowly making progress.  The big thing I have to concentrate on is getting stuff out of the house.  I have now donated three different times since the beginning of June.  But I have a lot more to go through.  Still, it is slowly getting done.  I have now resigned myself to the fact that it is going to be a summer long project, instead of just the month of June.

Today, the floor cleaners are coming.  I still have tons to do to prep for them, plus I have to get myself showered, Becky up and to camp and other little things.  I am actually nervous about them coming.  Not sure what I'll do with the dog, except that she is scheduled to have a bath and nail clippings, etc at noon.

I am jamming a lot of junk into the study and mud room.  Then the rest of the house will be clean, except those two rooms.  And I'll work on them throughout the rest of the summer.

We still have a huge hole in our basement ceiling.  That won't be taken care of until 7/14 or so.  Depends on when the guy actually shows up.  Plus, the dining room wall has holes in it too.  Still trying to decide if it is really necessary to re-wallpaper.  Probably it is at some point, anyway.

I had lawn people come (who seem to do everybody else's yard in the neighborhood).  They spent so long weeding.  I kept telling myself - just gotta get there and get started, but man, if it took 4 guys that long to do it, there wasn't a chance in hell for me. They did an excellent job though.  The yard looks so good.  And they cleaned the gutters!!!

Window cleaners are also coming in 7/14.  I can't wait until my sunroofs in my porch aren't a muddy brown anymore!

And on July 5th, guys are coming to vacuum out our air ducts.  Woot!

Clean, clean, clean.

Two more big projects:  clean garage, and get chimney sweeps to clean fireplaces

Josh has gotten so tan from working at the marina.  He really, really likes it.  He now knows how to open up the marina and get everything set up for customers.  He's really learning his boating lingo.  He comes home so caked with dirt and sweat the first thing he does is take a shower.  My Josh, who was so oblivious to how he looked, now shaves regularly and went and got his own hair cut before I said anything!  And he's decided he needs to work on his abs.  So I've found him doing sit ups and stuff.  He's really opening up (for Josh) too.  He just wasn't happy in school.  He needed to get out and work, I think.    I am trying to talk him into checking out land surveying as a possible career.  You can apprentice for it in Virginia.  It means he'd be working outdoors (which he likes) and it means using a lot of math (which he likes).  To me it sounds like the perfect job for him.

Sean is also getting fit.  He has been biking a lot lately.  Combining that with his workouts with Noel, he's getting really strong.  There are some really steep hills around here, but lately Sean hasn't had to get off and walk his bike.  He's been able to peddle right up them.  Noel was saying how much stronger he is this year compared to last.  But Sean says he needs to work on his arms.  I think maybe both Josh and Sean would be into weight lifting.  At least a little bit.  Sean was saying he needs gym so he can bench press.

Becky loves, loves, loves her theater camp.  She's in heaven basically and made a new best friend (actually a girl she was friendly with a couple years ago and now it is has been reignited because they happened to be at the same theater camp.)

Will had a big concert on his birthday.  He said it was fun and everything, but they didn't even break even on the snacks they provided.  No one donated anything.  Lots of M.I.T students were there.  Tightwads!  LOL.  Will is all excited because he is helping his friend from the Sudan fund raise for opposition to the Sharia government there.  His friend has been jailed by the government.  His crime was he was playing music after the 11:00 nationwide curfew.  Crazy evil people.

Hannah is busy as usual working, going to school, planning a wedding, looking for an affordable apartment, helping out around here, socializing, etc.  She's busy!

Poor Rick is so busy too.  I am a little worried about him.  But hopefully, with the 4th coming up, he'll get a day to really relax and sleep.  We aren't planning anything big for the 4th.  Josh has to work though, but he gets the best view of the fireworks they say.  I want him to take pictures, if he can.

Ok, that's it . Gotta get ready for the cleaners!