Whoa - Dec. 31, already?! We'll see the New Year in our traditional way -- with cowboy movies and pizza. The girlies, on the other hand, usually head out for a party -- the rowdies. (And we won't see them tomorrow, either. Ah well.) Meanwhile, I've got lots of cleaning, some paperwork...and it's flirting with snow outside. You'll have more fun checking out what wandered in off the Internet: The 'unsolvable' math hypotheses that turned out to be right!
How could it be Thursday already!?!.It's been nice to be with the family, as well as sleep in some...but some things need to get done before the new year -- and I need to finish them. Then it's back to restoring a crazy quilt for a client. Weather's cold, nippy and a bit snowy here; perfect weather for quilt restoration. Meanwhile: A very funny look at the Fred Hill Briefcase Drill Team:
and in keeping with such silliness...
21 rude responses to bossy notes. (Yes, there are some vulgar ones -- skip them if needed.) A bunch of gas-saving tips, from Donna Freedman's Frugal Nation. Where are the doom-and-gloom experts who insisted that gas was going to be $4.00 a gallon by the end of 2012? Probably hiding...
A very interesting food blog -- Fusion on the Fly. (It also seems to be called Stirringthepotharlem; at least, you get two different sets of posts, but the same voice.) I heard about Karl Wilder when he did a week of food based on foodstamps...then decided to continue the experiment. Now he's adapting his diet for diabetics, as well. (Good for him. A lot of people with limited incomes struggle with this -- it can only help.)
I think I may be trying the 'foodstamp diet' in a week or two, and publishing results. Stay tuned.
Chalk paint. It's smooth, trendy, and the surface to be painted doesn't need prep work beforehand! The bad part: chalk paint is twice as much as regular paint. Make your own, thanks to I Heart Naptime.
A huge bunch of holiday snacks and drinks, courtesy of Stephanie at Keeper of the Home. Everything from hot chocolate to eggnog, and all sorts of goodies in between -- more than 20!
Why listening to your career counselor isn't always the best thing -- from Get Rich Slowly. Finding a job is tough, especially when you're competing. Not only is the advice helpful on this post, but actual sample letters are included. Good stuff if you're looking for work, or thinking of changing jobs.
Shopping has been busy around here, but surprisingly easy -- many people already left town Friday to take advantage of the long weekend. I got the rest of the food for the Seven Fish Dishes dinner -- we've been celebrating Christmas Eve this way for decades. (The Italians started it, to mark the seven sacraments -- but hey, we're not Italian.) Here's the menu; recipes are on the blogs below.
Angels on Horseback (oysters) Seafood Chowder (scallops) -- friends are coming, and her husband is not that big on clam chowder Teriyaki Salmon Baked Trout with Herb Stuffing Shrimp Scampi Calamari Stirfry Crab Newburg
with rice, fruit, sorbet and a green salad.
sparkling red grape juice (we're doing this meal alcohol-free, with wine for Christmas dinner)
For dessert -- snowball sundaes, cookies and chocolates. Espresso, too.
The Brick is out fixing up the chickies' heat lamp/light arrangement. The extra light and heat have been a big help -- in spite of the snow, we're still getting between 6-9 eggs a day. The Christmas tree is up, and bags and Stuff are still everywhere. There's a lot of cleaning, shopping and dishwashing to do before Christmas Eve -- I'd better get to it. Hope your weekend is going well.
Actually, it's a bit of the first piece of gold James Marshall found in 1848, while supervising at Sutter's Mill in California. The same gold that set off all the brouhaha...and eventually the California Gold Rush.
Here's the note Marshall wrote with it; obviously, he was barely literate. Figures...a lot of people during the first half of the 19th century could not even read, or signed their names with an X.
Marshall had the gold set into a brooch for his baby niece Abigail; it stayed in the family until it sold last week at Heritage Auctions.
The price? A cool $35,850. Actually, that was probably a bargain!
Read all about it here. And if you're curious about learning more about Marshall's connection with the Gold Rush, you might try my book, Quilts of the Golden West.See it here.
The National Museum of Scotland has been without its mascot, an antique Chinese statue called Weituo, for some time now. If you're curious about the name, Weituo are guardians of Dharma, or Buddhist law. Their presence is said to convey serenity and peace... which made the National Museum curators a tad nervous, no doubt, from his long absence. (More about how Weituo got to Scotland in the first place -- it's a quirky story.)
Can you believe this statue is ceramic? Can you imagine how scary it was to restore, as a result?
He's finally home again, standing firm and looking good.
We woke up this morning to snow in the Denver area. (Finally -- it's been soooo dry!) Now, that same snow is whirling, going sidewise and otherwise blowing around. Nobody cancelled school -- it wasn't that bad at 6 a.m. It is now, though..
'I Am Adam Lanza's Mother' chronicles her struggles to love, take care of and protect a son who's brilliant, yet flies off in threats at a moment's notice. She's never sure when he will veer from promises and apologies to actually looking for a knife.
Here she is in person:
What can be done, in a situation like this? Especially when the kid in question isn't cooperating -- or worse still, now lives in an adult body and deliberately makes threats, or refuses to take their medication...
The Brick drove a special ed ("sped") schoolbus route for years. Some of the kids he had contact with were almost as big (he's 6-foot), and reacted to anything they didn't want to do, with violence. Shoot, his regular bus routes were almost as frightening, like the kids who first knifed up the back seat, then set it on fire. While the bus was going down the street. And that's for people who are supposed to be "normal." (The extra fillip came when some parents accused bus drivers of either making these incidents up...or accused them of hurting the kids themselves! Thank God for videos on the busses that proved what really happened.)
So, what to do?
You can't just lock someone up, Minority Report-style, because they could be dangerous. But how to protect yourself and others?
Take someone seriously, the first time they make a threat -- and lock them up? (Words are easy to say. Kids say stupid things all the time.) There are plenty of reports cropping up right now, mentioning similar threats, guns collected, etc.
Hold them down, and force feed the meds? (What about personal freedom, then...)
Let them commit the crime - then lock them up? (The lady above was told by a social worker that they couldn't do much until her son actually acted on his threats.)
I know this from a more personal angle, from dear friends whose son has been in and out of group homes and psychiatric situations for years. They tried to keep him at home, then were forced to give him up to the state (he's adopted), after he began trying to harm their pets -- and their other children. When he's calm, he's a wonderful guy -- polite, charming, funny. But he can also be physically threatening, angry...shift into deception quickly, and turn on people in a flash. He may say he's sorry, afterward, and revert to his former charm -- but the damage is done.
They love him dearly. But they also have a responsibility to the rest of their family.
I realize that some of you are going to disagree on this -- but it strikes me that a concealed weapon permit -- and a responsible person holding it -- could have stopped the school shootings much faster. Ramp up the eligibility requirements, if you wish. Regulate the sales. But I am not the only one who believes that a good dose of preventive medicine can help.
Done responsibly, that is.
This season's flu is just not fun. After a week of off-and-on fever and chills, aches and general tiredness, I am more than ready for it to go away. And it seems to...until you do too much. Then it's back, sneering in your face. Well, yah, Mr. Flu -- I got you! Our Christmas tree is finally up, and decorations are out. Even the Brick, notorious for his bah-humbug attitude, is humming holiday carols. (He even clucks them now and then, just for fun. Not that our hens care.) I'm starting to gather up the ingredients for the seven fish dishes on Christmas Eve, and trying to figure out how to clean up the house without exhausting myself back into sickness. It's not going to be easy. Meanwhile:
Something to work on over the holidays - a scruffy, beautiful t-shirt shag rug. Tutorial's here. (It's easier than you think!)
Tip: Donna uses Swagbucks to accumulate 'bucks' for Amazon gift cards. All you need do is use Swagbucks for your regular searches. (There are extras you can do to add points, but they're purely voluntary, and you can still accumulate quite a bit without them.) Those translate into Swagbucks -- and 450 of them means a $5 Amazon giftcard! This may sound like a lot of work, but it isn't. Just by doing the regular stuff, somehow I've earned more than $250 worth of Amazon giftcards over the past few years...roughly two a month! Could you use Swagbucks? Take a look on the right-hand side, and you'll see the Swagbucks icon. If you click on it, you'll get yourself started -- and give me a nice little bonus, too. Trust me -- it's worth exploring. How to get laid off -- on purpose. Financial Samurai was planning to retire, anyways -- but by getting himself deliberately laid off, he got plenty of extras. (He calls it the "it's not you, it's me" strategy.) You could use this concept to get a raise or other perks. Or a date, I guess.
Just found a new blogger: Mr. Money Mustache. Well, new to me, anyways. This guy is 'retired' at age 37 (actually he has his own construction/rental projects); lives frugally, not far from the Brick house, and talks about everything from renovating a house in Hawaii to his own adventures in saving money. I'm looking forward to getting to know him and Mrs. MM better.
Confessions of a con artist. This man made his bucks by selling fake and overvalued 'opportunities' over the phone. A good reminder what you should be on guard for, courtesy of AARP.
A clever way with words: one of my young piano students loves this Taylor Swift song. I love the inventive way fonts and text are used to present the message.
Bavarian crochet - a versatile stitch, lots of step-by-step photos, from Diary of a Stay At Home Mom.
And life goes on. Have a Merry Christmas week. It only comes once a year - take a minute now and then to enjoy it!
Long ago, when America first started, the country didn't print any banknotes.
Did you know that?
Banks actually did it. They would print paper money that ostensibly was covered by the coinage in their coffers. If you were lucky, it was true, but you were never quite sure. There were only a few exceptions, like the New Orleans bank whose ten-dollar notes were so reliable that they were known as "dixs" (the French number for ten) -- or "Dixies." (Thus the origin of that good old Southern nickname.)
Some areas, especially those in Ohio (!!!), were notorious for printing money they couldn't honor. Practically the only way to be certain was to present the bank with its own note. But what if that banknote was in Illinois...and you were in the California gold camps?
It wasn't until the Civil War era that the U.S. began printing "greenbacks," and the paper currency began that we know today. (If you're curious about learning more, try my book, Quilts and the Golden West. It's full of financial history, plus a lot about the gold and silver camps -- and lots of quilts! Patterns, too. Go here to take a look.)
Meanwhile, banks continued printing money -- like the First National Bank of Creede in Colorado. Unfortunately, it was one of the bad 'uns, and only stayed in business for a few years before it failed. Its failure, like many of the gold and silver camps, had a lot to do with the adoption of the Gold Standard, made law by President Grover Cleveland. Unfortunately, those whose fortunes were based on silver, instead, often went bust. (Our banks have a bad habit of doing that around here, shades of the infamous Silverado savings&loan failure that involved Neil Bush, President Bush Sr's son, back in the 1980s.)
Although we know the Creede bank existed, its notes were nonexistent -- until this 1892 "brown back" $5 note resurfaced.
It sold in New York at the Bonhams auction last week, for $101,790.
Husband works for Douglas County Schools here in Colorado. He came home with tears in his eyes, over the kids and educators killed in Newtown, Connecticut.
I had the same tears, listening to this interview, of the teacher next door who managed to save her class by cramming them in the bathroom, pulling a bookcase across the door, and turning out the lights. She and the kids were eventually rescued by police.
Brave woman, Kaitlin Roig. Terrified...but isn't that what true bravery contains?
Husband confessed he'd been thinking about our own girls, as well. How in the world can you protect kids from such savagery as this?
According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, while both male
and female reindeer grow antlers in the summer each year, male reindeer
drop their antlers at the beginning of winter, usually late
November to mid-December. Female reindeer retain their antlers
till after they give birth in the spring. Therefore, according to every
historical rendition depicting Santa's
reindeer, every single one of
them, from Rudolph to Blitzen, had to be...
a girl.
Figures. Only women would be able to drag a fat guy in a red suit
all around the world in one night, and not get lost.
I'm not kidding. Go to this site, and type in your home address. Voila -- your place should appear in a snowglobe. (Towns work, too.) Cool! DraftFCB, the sponsor of the site, also says that they'll make a contribution to the Coalition of the Homeless, every time you put a address in. So you're helping doubly.
The flu I brought home from Michigan is finally making a stand. Fever, chills, achiness...oh joy. Guess the Christmas decorations are going to have to wait another day or two.
The sun may be shining again here in Colorado -- but it's still pretty chilly. The chickens spent most of the day close to the coop. (Not that I blame them.) I got a lot of putting-away stuff done...so why does the house STILL look messy? While I'm cleaning, you may enjoy these forays into Internet-land:
Sachertorte: an easy, elegant dessert that's budget-friendly. Find this triple threat at Penny Thots, one of the sites I regularly write for.
Two other yes-its-me-just-elsewhere posts: Dealing with holiday guilt, at Midlife Finance.
Also at MLF: Are you making financial headway? I was surprised at the number of comments on what seemed, at least to me, an easy post. Maybe because this subject hits near and dear to a subject that people find important: themselves.
Friday -- Accidentally locked myself out of the house, without the house keys and my laptop. (Sigh. The back door that should have been open, I locked, instead.) Fortunately, I had my wallet, car keys and pen/paper. Two different sets of appraisals -- one in early morning, an hour's drive away. Plus meeting Daughter #2, and doing some shopping for the business. Gave a piano lesson. Shopped for stuff for the seniors luncheon. (See below.) Went out to eat with the Brick and friends. Returned the vehicle we'd been borrowing. (Our second car gave up the ghost -- down to just one now.) Staggered home. Watched a movie, went to bed. Started at 8 a.m. - finished at 11:30 p.m.
Saturday-- Couldn't sleep - got up at 3 a.m., read a book until 5 a.m. Did a luncheon for seniors - 37 came, and all got plates of cupcakes to take home, in addition to a full meal, entertainment and so on. There were several others to help, but I was in charge. That meant keeping all the balls in the air -- food cooked on time, and done right, while I kept things generally rolling; tables to set up and decorate; cleanup done, with everything wiped off. Started at 7 a.m. - finished at 2:30 p.m. Came home and collapsed. (Afternoon naps are wonderful.) Know I did stuff afterward, but can't remember what. Started snowing in early evening.
Sunday -- Six inches of snow overnight, and the temps dropped like a rock. Felt like I was coming down with something, but I'd agreed to help a friend and sing for her on Worship Team for church. Fed the chickies (who refused to come out in all that chilly white stuff), got the car cleaned off and went to practice. Early. Sang for two church services. Came home, made lunch and ate it. Collapsed. (Another nap - plus the Sunday paper.) Cleared off the mantel. (No Christmas decorations up yet, thanks to being in Michigan for a week. Need to do it.) Then grocery shopping, tea with a friend and this. Started at 7 a.m. - finished at 11 p.m. So glad Monday's coming. Maybe I can get some rest!
"It is true that the smaller the income is, the harder the task of spending it to best advantage becomes... "Whatever way you may have found to stretch a too-small income, I am sure the majority of you see little romance in it...It is no disgrace to be poor, only mighty uncomfortable. It is honorable to plan and save and make things do a little longer if we make it so; it is noble to do any work if we do it in a noble way and live up to high ideals.
"The bald fact [is] that more than one-half of the adult males of the United States and Canada earn less than seven hundred dollars per annum, and that two million of our railroad employees average six hundred and fifty dollars a year, and many of our clergymen and teachers live on much less than a thousand dollars a year, shows us that we can live on a little less if we must. [Editor's note: !!!!]
"There are many pleasures that only money can buy, and to see the dollars we would like to spend for music and art broiled up in steak or baked into bread is temper breaking. But let us cultivate a sympathy with the other members of the great army of average wage-earners...Until things change for the better, try to be prudent and rational."
...from the December 1914 issue of Modern Priscilla magazine,
excerpted in 'The Art of Thrift' special issue of Good Old Days
It's Monday morning...do you know where your Mama is? Mine has been having fun putting dusty paper chains (made by Little Brother and yours truly several decades ago) on her Christmas tree. They look awful, but when I protested, she said, "It's my house." And she's right. I'll wince some more when she puts the dirty white tissue paper wreath on the back door. I'd make another one for her, but she already told me that if I do, she'll just hang both. Yuck. While I'm fighting down my gag reflex, you might enjoy this gleaning of stuff from the Internet.
Top Ten Money-Saving Tips...learned from a grumpy father-in-law. Basic ones that make sense -- like concentrating on the expensive proteins at an all-you-can-eat buffet, and leaving the potatoes and other starches alone. Good stuff here. (Thanks, L Bee and the Money Tree.)
Firefighters need a little help pulling out a downed tree...and a dog obliges! He actually belongs to one of the Dutch volunteer firefighters who came on the scene. (Our Charley would do the same thing.)
Have a good week. And please, throw away those grubby made-by-kids-hands decorations! Except mine, of course...I intend on keeping the girlies' projects forever.
I know how the Brick and I have handled our finances...but I'm not always sure how others have done it.
The truth is -- they have. And they haven't. CNN Money hosts an ongoing feature called "America's Money: In Their Own Words." Currently, 65 different families are ringing in with comments. Some sound scared; they're facing bankruptcy, or are gradually losing the battle against foreclosure. Others herald their decisions to spend frugally and cut expenses, including living in a smaller house.
One recurrent theme, though, is the cost of gasoline. If these families' words are any gauge, the increased price of gas is badly affecting us as a country, both for work and recreation.
Have they always made wise decisions? Definitely not. Fortunately, though, nearly every family is realizing it now, at least. Better late than never. Take a look here. You'll have to flip from page to page -- but it's worth it.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
A foggy day in Michigan...helped the Mama put up her Christmas tree, and arrange lights in her outdoor planters. Her house has a holiday feel now. Just a few days, and I can go put some Christmas stuff in mine, as well!
