One thing right after another.

You know you're doing too much when the kids start begging to stay home. We will slow down. We must. Just not for a few more months. This week has been especially busy.

Monday- Cats to the vet, phone calls, and band

Tuesday- I worked for about 5 hours for a friend then we had a meet and greet at Chick-Fil-A.

Wednesday- Spanish Class at 9am, Science Club at 11:30am, Baseball at 1:00pm

Thursday - is blissfully slow, only Mom's night out at 6:00pm.

Friday- Pumpkin Festival!

and... we have to get school in every day. It's only Tuesday and I'm already beat. I am glad that I decided to go the the Meet and Greet tho, it was a lot of fun and I got to meet people that I wouldn't have met otherwise. Good stuff.

I hope that Science Club goes over well tomorrow. I've got 4 stations set up to do hands on experiments with air pressure. Maybe I'll post a little on that tomorrow if I don't collapse from exhaustion.

Thursday I wouldn't miss for the world. We always have a great time.

Friday I could probably skip but it's cheap entertainment so I guess we'll go. Plus.. I've already paid for it! LOL

I tell you what though,, my house is paying for this business. I'm going to have to declare a Clean All Day day.

I guess none of this will matter when the country falls to ruins and the economy collapses, right? Ugh,,, that's another post entirely.

Mary Draper Ingles Living History Trail.

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Have any need for moving trucks?
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A few quick thoughts on the Debate.

1. Obama said "We should take Pakistan out" Then in the same breath he said "I want to make sure that no other mother has to loose a son"
2. Obama said "We need show decisive force against Afghanistan" Then he said "We need to withdraw all of our troops"
REALLY? Did no one hear this?

3 When asked where he stood on the bailout he says "We need a national preschool program" Ok,, seriously? We could wake up tomorrow to rotting food because Kroger went out of business but you're worried about socializing 3 year olds? I don't mean preschoolers making friends, I mean turning them into socialists.

4. Ok, Ahmajinadad is hard to say but has the opposition EVER picked up a history book? Hello? Perestroika? LOOK IT UP.

5. Mr. Obama? Poland is not a fledgling democracy. Again... pick up a history book.

6. He suggests that we need to treat Russia with kid gloves so we can secure a good relationship because they depend on our petrol dollars??? What???? we get ZERO oil from Russia!! It's Europe that is being held hostage by Russian fuel. PICK UP A PAPER.

7. He says that he's talked to veterans that can't get treatment for PTSD??? REALLY?? No,, that's the only ONLY thing they want to treat you for at the VA. Trust me,, We are intimately familiar with the VA.

8. T1's observation-- Obama likes to make a LOT of quick points. LOL!!

9. I have one good thing to say. Nice of B.O. getting Tim's,, I mean Jim's,, I mean Tom's,, I mean JOHN'S name right there at the end.

I'm just sayin'

The stock market crashed in 1929.
Televisions became commercially available in the late 1930s with the first commercial broadcast being in 1941.
Just for giggles,, here's another quick fact that any 7th grader should know. FDR was the president during the Great Depression.
Explain to me please how no one is giving Joe Biden a hard time over this?

Fail-Cano!

And just for good measure....

Craters

We dropped stuff in flour the other day to see what kinds of craters it would make. It was part of finishing up our unit on Mercury.





Popcorn was not a real success and I wouldn't let them throw the giant rock at my well seasoned Pampered Chef bar pan hard enough to do anything spectacular. But we did see a few cool looking craters.
We've already started (an almost finished) Venus. I see us making a volcano in the near future!
I made (for the 3rd time) some nobake cookies tonight. They're to take to skating tomorrow. These are very addictive!! I'm going to put the recipe here so I won't loose it.
Butterscotch No Bake Cookies
Ingredients:
4 ounces butter or margarine
1/2 cup milk
2 cups sugar
1 cup semisweet butterscotch chips
3 to 4 tablespoons peanut butter, optional (use the peanut butter, I emplore you)
3 cups oats, quick or old-fashioned
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preparation:
Place chocolate chips, peanut butter (if used), oats, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Combine the margarine, milk, and sugar in a saucepan; bring to a rolling boil. Boil for 1 minute. Combine the hot mixture with the oatmeal and chocolate chip mixture; stir well. Drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper.
More No Bake Cookies
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Do you know how excited my boys would be if they knew I had to write about Ferrari parts today? Oh. My. Goodness. They LOVE Ferraris!!
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Country within a County within a State?

Do you follow?

A Country within a County within a State. That's what it seems like sometimes in this part of West Virginia. In a sort of twisted way, I enjoy trying to figure people out. I like to notice body language, differences in accent, and most of all, colocialisms.

We in West Virgina are best I know with the colocialisms! A few that come to mind are:

We don't watch television, we "look at TV" as in

"I hardly ever look at TV"

We don't travel far distances we "go a fur piece" as in

"Dang, her house is a fur piece off the paved road!"

One of the most interesting things that I've noticed in our area is how different the people are if you travel 20 minutes in any direction from Huntington. West Virginia is not as rural at it used to be but small communities are still very much isolated and have their own quirks.

If I drive 20 minutes south of my house the people do an interesting thing. I find it very annoying but at the same time I enjoy trying to figure out why they do it.

The short of it is this:

They MUST figure out how they're related to you. They assume they are related to everyone in some way. They get right down indignant if they can't connect themselves to you in some way. I've even been the target of hillbilly smear campaigns because I'm not "one of them". This all makes me giggle a little inside. What made me think of this is an exchange I had at the library this morning.

A lady stood at the front counter and I was sitting in a comfy chair, knitting and waiting for my kids to get finished with their Spanish tutoring. I can't put my finger directly on it but I knew from whence she came. (I'm trying really hard lately to not end my sentences with prepositions,, bare with me,, I'll be sure to disappoint with more poor grammar in the future.) It's the way she held herself, her subtle accent, and the details that she was giving the librarian (that the librarian didn't need, btw). The librarian stepped back behind the glass to take care of the woman's inquiries. She was taking a while so the lady at the counter turned and looked for someone else in which to converse. (dang, it's hard to not end sentences with prepositional phrases!!) She immidiately zeroed in on me and came over to ask what my kids were doing. She had already ascertained that they were homeschooled and the 2 boys were mine. Now, this wouldn't take a genius to figure out but I know that she'd taken this information from the librarian. This is also a talent that the citizens of this area seem to have. They can ask people things and people will tell them. Now if anyone else asked these same questions, red flags would go off and people would shut down but OH NO,, not these people.

So she comes over and sits beside me and says " I could never homeschool"

I despise this comment. What I'd like to say is "no, you couldn't." but I try to be nice and I say "awhh, yes you could!!!"

She replies (and she'll now be known as SR, local people will immediately be able to assume what area of the county I'm talking about now!) "oh no I couldn't, I couldn't spend that much time with my kids!"

Thus the "no you couldn't"

I shrugged and gave her The Smile. You know the one,, the one that says "no comment". ha ha!

So SR then says (and this is where it gets good) "You look so familiar!!! I know I know you!"

Me- "oh? yeah,, I dunno"

SR- "who's your husband?" (I love the way she assumed I have one.)

Me- "Chris" (if you even ever knew me that should be enough to jog your memory, right?)

SR- "Chris who?"

Me- "Newman"

SR- "What's your name?"

Me- "Crystal"

SR- "I know I know you! Do you know Scott Eplin?"

Me- "no"

SR "What about Mike Eplin?"

Me- "no"

Then she gives me an incredulous look like I must not be from Cabell Co.

SR- "Are you related to the Johnstons?"

Me- "no"

SR- "Are you from here?"

Me- "all my life,, right here in Barboursville!"

SR- "Really?" "I thought for sure you'd know Mike, he's your age, he's 40"

GROAN.

wow... that's another story entirely. We'll save that. Don't remind me, ok? I'm NOT 40.

After about 20 more questions like that she started to get annoyed. She could NOT connect herself to me in anyway. So then she started her passive aggressive smear campaign.

"well, I was just curious." " I didn't mean to interrupt your ... whatever it is you're doing there"

ROFLMAO!!!

Now, know that I was never in any way snotty or mean to this woman. I just wasn't related to her and didn't know anyone she knew! When she determined that I wasn't interested in playing the Incest Game with her she started taking a tone with me!

Oh,, this wouldn't be funny if I hadn't had it happen at least 100 times before! The most favorite conversation of these people is other people. They also like to judge you by who your family is. And people think that the Hatfields and the McCoys are not still alive and well!

EGGS!

One of our hens started laying today!!! We've been so excited! It's one eesey, weensy, tiny, little, ugly, mis-shapen egg but you'd think one of our chickens cheated death or sang opera! We let them free range a little today to celebrate. YAY FOR CHICKENS!!!

I thought this deserved it's own post.

I received a comment this morning that I thought deserved it's own post. Andrea? I will post your comment here, rather than in it's place under "Little Known Fact".

Just wondering why exactly you are supporting her? What do you think makes
her qualified for the job of VP and possibly the big P?
Thanx Andrea

I reluctantly decided to support the McCain ticket initially because I couldn't vote for a fascist. I do not consider myself left leaning or right leaning but a Libertarian. Pre-Palin, I wasn't exactly voting FOR politics as usual, I was voting against forced servitude, forced equality, heavy taxation, change at ANY cost, a man with ties to terrorists (William Ayers) and mostly a PRESIDENT with no political experience. (i.e., never written a bill and maybe he'll be a real senator one day)

Now, I've been a fan (and I do realize the use of "fan" here, it's not ironic) of Mrs. Sarah Palin for long before her rumored pick for the VP slot. Her freshness and newness leave her without the ability to fear. Some may say it's her ignorance but is ignorance not bliss? She has a clear conscience that other politicians do not have. When her head hits the pillow at night she knows that she has done the right thing for the citizens she serves. No, not at any cost, she uses good judgement. She is a true public servant.

The picks for Pres. and VP are practically meaningless. The presidency in this country is a puppet show. All we are voting for in any election is a figure head, someone whom we admire to lead us, a cheerleader if you will. The president has the power of veto and the VP has the power to break a tie in the senate. That is all we're voting on in any election.

So yes, Sarah Palin will make a better choice when it comes to defending our country (should she be forced into a position of the presidency) , breaking a vote on things that are against my personal morals, and more figuratively she's a better figure head a.k.a. "cheerleader". I cannot in good conscience vote for a man who sympathizes with The Weather Underground. Obama does some nice double talk and condemns the actions of the Weather Underground, however he remains good friends with two (Ayers and Dorhn) of them that remain unrepentant for their actions. They helped launch his political career. No one but Sarah launched Sarah's political career. THAT is why I choose McCain/Palin. No,, not Palin/McCain.

Milton Flea Market Fire

Ok, first and foremost, let me express my sincere sympathy to those who lost their lively hoods in the fire today. I have had a booth in the flea market in the past and we did rely on that money. I completely understand the devastation that some people must be feeling.

BUT.... some of the comments on the WSAZ site today? I'm sorry,, I LOL'ed.

"Oh Darn,I needed some new fleas."

"I bet more Confederate Flags got burned up today than during the entire Civil War"

"I cant believe its really gone yo! Me and my homies used to chill there every Saturday. R.I.P Milton Flea Market."

"Oh snap, where will I get my bootleged Hank Junior CD's and Dale Earnhardt shirts."

"Save the Beanie Babies !!!!"

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Anyone know anyone who needs any Austin jobs?

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Hola Professora!

Today was the first day of the boys' private Spanish lessons. I'm so glad that we decided to do this! I think they will glean quite a bit from Professora Theresa!


I've mentioned that we've been studying Spanish Vocabulary and conversation at home for a few weeks now. This morning when she's asking the boys questions they just sat there completely slack jawed. There was practically drool on their chins.


"Does anyone know what 'Si' means?"


My boys- "duuuuuuuhhhhhh, look at the pretty birdy, hey George, which way did he go?"


I fought the urge to go over an flick them in the forehead and say "WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU???"


But at least I know I'm not alone. One of my best friends told me this evening that her pre-teen daughter told the dr. that her stomach hurts all the time because she's so hungry.


BWWAHHAHAHAHA


Ok,, I'm sorry,, that's not funny. I'll vouch for you C if CPS comes and takes your malnourished child away! LOL
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Who doesn't need and love picture frames?
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En Espanol por favor

Today we were finishing up our school day with a review of our Spanish vocabulary flash cards. After we do that, we practice conversational Spanish. So I said to T1 "Hola T1"
and he replied "Buenos Dias Senora"
I said "Coma Esta?"
and he replied "muy mal".
Fine.
I turned to T2 and said "Buenos Tardes T2!"
and he says "grande"
I give him the skunk eye and repeat "Buenos Tardes T2"
and he says "I DON'T SPEAK SPANISH, DUH!"

Ok, everyone I've told this to today has laughed hysterically. I don't think it's very funny. I mean,, yeah,, I guess it's funny but it drives me out of my mind!!!
Thank you for wasting my time.
How many times did I tell him this today? UGH.

On the subject of accountability, I ordered a cute little book from Amazon about a month ago. It's called Pulling Weeds to Picking Stocks by the Beatty Brothers. It's written by 8yo Deric, 14yo Devin, and 16yo David. They decided to write a book on how they became financially rich as teenagers. I've read about half of it and so far I'm very impressed. Not by their finacial plan and definately not by their sentence structure (wow,, an editor other than mom might have been a good investment!) but by the insight these boys seem to have into personal accountability and work ethic.
The reason I decided to buy the book was because it was a fund raiser. They want to give $25,000.00 of the proceeds to the Marine Corp and the Law Enforcement Fund. I first heard of the book on the Rush Limbaugh Show when the oldest called in to ask how much advertising would cost. Here's the transcript of the conversation:

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Let's head to the phones to the Tri-Cities,
Washington. This is David. I'm glad you waited, sir. Welcome to the
program.

CALLER: Hello, Mr. Limbaugh?

RUSH: Hi.

CALLER: This is an honor.

RUSH:
Thank you very much, sir.

CALLER: My name is David Beatty, and I'm 16 years old.
I want to thank you for the work you do to educate America and reinforce what my
parents teach us. Something I believe needs to be re-taught is the value of a
strong work ethic. I want people to know that the American dream is still alive.
I live in the northwest where many people sing songs of socialism. Kids at
school have no idea what it really means to have a socialist society, giving up
their freedoms to, quote, "Spread the wealth."

RUSH: Yeah.

CALLER: That's what I
try to talk about with people at school, but sometimes actions speak louder than
words. My brothers and I decided we would prove anything is possible, set a
goal, towards a goal and accomplish the goal. So we wrote a book that reflects
just how standing for your own convictions and believing in yourself --

RUSH: You
say you're 16?

CALLER: Yes.

RUSH: This is amazing. Very proud of you.

CALLER: And
last year, we had the opportunity to have grace shine on our family. We had lost
our grandfather and the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation, Pete Haas
stepped in and Pete was like a pillar of silent strength which we will never
forget. He helped us go out and see our grandfather buried in Arlington, and
these two things tied together because we wanted to thank them for their help
last year, and we want to try to raise $25,000 for them from proceeds from our
book, and we were wondering how much it would cost to advertise on your show,
and I just wanted to talk to you person-to-person about that.

RUSH: Well, I have
sales representatives standing by. They're always here. Should I answer this
question honestly? (laughing)

CALLER: I'm fine with that. I'm a little bit scared
to hear the numbers there, but I'm fine with that

.RUSH: Yeah, you'll be scared
to hear the numbers, I think it's safe to say, but we have ways -- how far along
are you on your book?

CALLER: Oh, we had it published like about a month
ago.

RUSH: How many pages is it?

CALLER: It's a hundred pages.

RUSH: Is the book
now in stores?

CALLER: Yes, it is.

RUSH: What is the title of the book?

CALLER:
Pulling Weeds to Picking Stocks.

RUSH: Pulling Weeds to Picking Stocks?

CALLER:
Yes.

RUSH: Okay. It's a hundred pages. Is it soft cover?

CALLER: Yes.

RUSH: How
much does it cost?

CALLER: It's eleven dollars.

RUSH: It costs eleven dollars to
buy it.

CALLER: Yes.

RUSH: Is it available nationally or is it just in your local
neighborhood in the Tri-Cities?

CALLER: I believe it is nationally
available.

RUSH: Who published the book?

CALLER: Tate Publishing.

RUSH: Tate
Publishing. All right, you have just received about a $35,000 commercial.

CALLER:
(laughing) Thank you.

RUSH: And it didn't cost you anything because your cause is
worth the donation of busy broadcast time. You want to sell this book so that
you can donate further to the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation.

CALLER:
Yes, sir.

RUSH: And you're 16. You know, I've been getting a lot of calls from
people your age over the summer, as people are out of school, and there are a
lot of you, and I just want to tell you, please don't change, because you are
going to become an adult and grow and mature at about the time your
participation in changing the direction of the country is going to be
crucial.

CALLER: Yes, sir.

RUSH: Oh, we have found out your book is also available
on Amazon.

CALLER: Yes.

RUSH: So people can go to Amazon and pick it up with their
credit card. Well, here's another $10,000 worth of advertising for you, Pulling
Weeds to Picking Stocks, 11 bucks, my gosh, you can't beat that, and some of the
proceeds will go to the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation. Well, David,
you learned a lesson here. It never hurts to ask for what you want.

CALLER: Well,
thank you very much, sir.

RUSH: How else will people know?

CALLER: How else will
people know.

RUSH: Thank you very much for your effort and your work here, and
all the best to you, David, thanks for calling.

CALLER: All right, thank
you.

RUSH: You bet.

END TRANSCRIPT

So yes, I thought, I have to read this book and I don't mind buying it outright because it's such a good cause. I'm definately going to read this to the boys and I hope they will heed the words therein. I also hope that they will see this little book and hear the less than stellar writing and know that these boys succeeded in the task that they set out to complete. It's not perfect but it's good and they gave it their all.

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I wonder how many shipping boxes they went through sending out the Beatty Brothers' books!

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I knew I loved P-Dub

The Pioneer Woman that is.
What? You don't read the Pioneer Woman's Blog? For shame.
Well?
Why are you still here? Go read it,, but come back because I have to tell you one of the reasons I love her.
Because she and I have something in common. If you reach really really far and squint your eyes!
Ree Said:

Is there a certain food that you just absolutely won’t touch?
Yes.

1. Bananas. They’re from Satan.
2. Tea in any form. Exception: Green Tea Ice Cream, which I love.

I on the other hand love bananas but I do agree that they are from Satan. Because I am whole heartedly allergic to bananas. blah.
And Tea? Hello? How do people consume that stuff? IT'S GRASS CLIPPINGS. It TASTES like grass clippings, it LOOKS like grass clippings, it SMELLS like grass clippings. But whatever,, I'm going to chug some. YUCK. No way. BUT... I do like some of the "fake teas" that are out there. Particularly Kroger's new generic version of the Lipton diet green tea. I do tire of it quickly though.

On other fronts, I have almost recovered from our busy week. The field trip to the Apiary was a success! Here's a slideshow of pictures.

Mom's night out was fun as always. We had a pretty good showing. Our waitress at the Olive Garden in Barboursville, WV STUNK! She was seriously one of the worst waitresses ever. No matter though.
The meeting with the Spanish teacher went well. We start Spanish lessons this Wednesday.
The kids are almost recovered from the slumber party they went to on Friday. T1 has a sprained ankle and I think T2 has finally caught up on sleep.
We have another busy week ahead of us with more picnics and private lessons officially starting.
Shew... it'll be Christmas before we know it!

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Hmmm,,

What's new. Not much so I'll post the last 3 pictures in my photobucket.

I started some Jaywalkers ( Ravelers here )
Excuse my ugly feet! I thought I'd do something easy-ish to try out some of this super great cheapo Red Heart and Sole with Aloe yarn that ACMoore just got in. I like it! You can't beat $3.99 a ball!


My Cheebee cat is extra cuddly. I wuvs him.

My entire plot of potatos only produced just a little more than this basket. Sad, sad, sad. We'll try again next year.
So yeah,, that's about it. School is going well. This week starts our very busy schedual. Today we played baseball with friends and tomorrow we go on a big road trip to Stiltner's Apiary out in Wayne county. Thursday we have a meeting at the library and it's Mom's Night Out. Friday the boys have a slumber party to attend. The next three weeks aren't looking any less busy! --------------------------Has anyone ever seen talking watches?----------------------------------