I am sooooo excited for the release of Pirates of the Caribbean 4! I have my midnight show ticket bought and a group scallywags gathered up to join me in the mayhem.

I. Can’t. Wait. *sigh*

Will report back in after the movie for my full (likely 5 star) review of the film. Much to the dismay of my friend Mike, the movie reviewer at Popcorn Jury.

Here are some snips for your viewing pleasure:
Trailers:

Sneak Peeks:

Ok, I can’t pull that off at all, but I do these things to amuse my boys. So you can deal.

I think that this blog is a mirror of my life… I’ve left most of the fringe activities that I used to enjoy go in order to deal with a not-so-fun winter. Not to dwell, but I’ve been under the weather. There ’nuff said.

I have been taking photos… so maybe if I get it together, I will post some of the things I did actually do for fun since oh last who knows when?

Until then, I’m going to have to dust and vacuum in here. Total pit, this place is.

Thanks for checking in,

T

*****

… to pretty much everything that afternoon. Anything goes, well, I said no to pulling the fire alarm but I doubt they were serious, but you never know with these boys… any boys, I find. Or maybe just the ones I come in contact with. Could be I’m a magnet for the rebels though. That is my lot in life… to be a rose among thorns. I’ll include my sister in on this because she, more than I, deserves a crown of roses since she’s birthed 4 now. Speaking of, these are pictures of our trip down south to the land of cotton to meet #4 of 4 of her brood of boys. She received 2 more kids as a wedding gift so that makes 6 youngster’s in her house (thankfully one is a girl… sorry boys but you know I’d say that out loud if you were sitting right here… and you’d laugh then start wrestling again.)

So anyway, here are some photos. I was in an artsy, black and white mood that week.

Yes there are thousands. You can deal with it.

And here’s the little man child on day 2 of his big life so far.

He was jaundiced for quite a few days after he got home and had to keep this light pad on his back that had a cord that came out of his gown that looked like a long tail. We called him the Avatar. I included a color picture so you could see why. (Hey, that’s me by the way.)

And from the next couple days… going for a ride, being held by grandmas, and a big brother.

Ok, there are more… lots more. If you are interested, click ‘em.

If you got this far, you rock.

Warning: all of this may or may not have actually happened like this. What can I say? I’m a big drama queen and I like satire. Read on…

So Saturday was [M]‘s Huddle Halloween party… 18 kids hopped up on sugary punch, cookies, candy, and not the least of which adrenaline, dressed like everything from Cleopatra to gladiators to Star Wars and Transformers characters to pirates to Army men (this is what my son chose). It was AWESOME!

It started at house 1. They began by filling up on a protein as a base food but don’t be fooled. The drinks had ice cream and I think Mountain Dew Code Red in them, and I swear I saw 12 empty cans of Monster in the garbage. They also got a goblin cookie and I swear those eyeballs were chocolate covered espresso beans but everyone was being very tight-lipped about it. They had more sugary goodness and the games ensued. I really couldn’t see what was happening… it was all a blur. They were moving so fast and speaking in that voice you hear on Alvin and the Chipmunk cartoons. Games were played and won, and then we were off to house #2 to carve pumpkins… yes, more sharp knives (see my last post).

On the way there [M] raided his candy bag in an effort to perpetuate the high he was on. It was almost like he’s done this before. Hmm. So we get to house 2 and and the sharp knives are waiting along with hot drinks, glowing swords and fire. Oh and the other 17 sugar addicts. No ER runs surprisingly despite a free-for-all light saber war on the front lawn… 7 against 1 I think just because 1 kid picked a green sword instead of blue. One kid in particular would just run up and whack kids out of the blue… he would hide in the bushes and randomly pick a victim, whack him, them retreat to his hidey hole. Ok, picture taken (see above), kids where crashing hard because there was no candy here… off to house #3 STAT or these kids would be asleep in no time! And we went…

Ah yes, house #3 was just what the kids needed. We circled them round a giant fire pit atop a steep hill in total darkness, gave them 4′ Tritons with flaming white sugar blobs on the ends and they played the “and then…” game. The crazy saga involved flying pigs, deranged beagles, exploding toilets, and evil aliens… and then suddenly the setting of the story shifted to the Democratic National Convention and the younger kids started crying and asking for their mothers (I think I heard one cry out for Tom Cruise)… and things really fell apart fast. So, since they had emptied 4 bags of marshmallows, it was a good time to divert them to the dance floor, complete with strobe light, and they boogied down to Monster Mash. While a couple of the parents were tending to a child with possible seizure disorder symptoms, another child fell off the side of the patio, into the adjacent pond. We fished him out quickly and luckily (for us) he was dressed as a T-Rex so convincing him to just change his costume to the Creature from the Black Lagoon was not a hard sell. The dancing continued. No seizures. That’s our story and we’re sticking to it.

3 kids escaped with the family’s stash of Costco sized toilet paper and TP’ed the back deck. Every other child joined in and for a while we couldn’t actually see any children.

By now, [M] had probably consumed 10,000 calories and my original theory of what goes up must come down was coming to fruition. He told me he had a tummy ache and was tired. I offered him some chocolate. NO. Some skittles. NO. How about a spin around the dance floor? Evil look.

So we loaded up and before I had backed out of the driveway he was reclined in his seat with his eyes closed trying to sleep. (This may be the only truly non-embellished sentence in the story thus far… except for the part about the party being AWESOME! That was totally true too.)

The truth is as you can guess… no, it didn’t happen this way at all … the truth is this little Trip or Treat party was so very sweet and well organized. The parents that put it together were fabulous and the hosts: Mirjam, Angel, and Crystal, were kind and welcoming. I’m giving them a virtual high five right now! All of the children were so well-behaved, and NO there were no Monster energy drinks (or Mt. Dew) in the punch LOL. The candy allotment per child was just right… not too much at all. The pumpkin carving was fun and the marshmallow roasting was safe and the kids had a total hoot telling their “and then…” stories. The TP was used for a Mummy wrap game that the kids loved. And the strobe light was the biggest hit of the night! The kids LOVED it and couldn’t get enough of it. I can’t thank the CCC Huddle parents enough for their efforts, and everyone for being so friendly to [M] and me always. It’s such a great group.

Here are few more fun pictures from the fun party: (click ‘em)

If you haven’t read my last post, you aren’t missing much aside from a bad attitude and a segue into this post about my son and me going to the pumpkin patch to pick out the family pumpkins for Halloween this year. On top of the aforementioned bad attitude, to add insult to serious emotional injury (not really), the battery in my camera went dead after we left that stupid corn maze so all of these images are taken with my new iPhone 4. I can’t complain really… it does a fairly decent job. The pic above is a 3 image panoramic that I stitched together quickly in photoshop.

So anyway, back to the pumpkin patch… We went to Rombach Farms in Chesterfield. Fantastic place. Never disappoints. [M] picked out a pumpkin for each of us, including a really warty one for Dad. He thought that was hysterical.

Rombach’s is seriously huge… we got a little wheeled cart and proceeded aisle by aisle inspecting the various sizes and varieties of pumpkins, allowing my son to enjoy everything around him for as long as he liked. After all, we had just had a really BAD time at a really BAD corn maze. We had to make up for that.

One really big perk of homeschooling is being able to visit places like this during week days when most everyone else is either at work or school. So there were no crowds to contend with at all. [M] picked the 4 pumpkins he liked and decided it was time to go. And off we went.

The next phase… designing, carving, and roasting.

I’ll admit, it’s been a while. We are not faithful annual pumpkin carvers around here. But we managed and the boys seemed to enjoy it although I was stuck with the nasty job of pulling out all the goo from the inside of the pumpkins. They wanted nothing to do with that. They just wanted to use the knives. I did buy those little carving saws which made the job easier for them but I must admit, I was a nervous mom the entire time. Roger, not so much. He is always so freaking calm. How does he do that? He just kept asking for larger and larger knives. I was waiting for him to start asking me for power tools. He did mention something about next year using a Dremel.

Here are more pics of [M] at Rombach Farms and of the carving process, as well as some of the finished pumpkins. I went with an abstract design seeing if my kids could get the idea of it right off the bat. [J] did immediately and chuckled. [M] laughed too after we explained it… he’s not quite there in math yet. And no it’s not an original thought but when I saw the idea online I immediately thought of my youngest son who loves “pumpkin pie”.  My oldest went for a Manga face and thought he really pulled it off well. And we roasted the seeds… just a couple tablespoons of melted butter, some salt, mixed in with the seeds and spread on a cookie sheet. Then baked at 300 degrees until golden brown. They turned out great. Now that I showed you mine, you are obligated to show me yours. So link me baby!

Buck a.k.a. “Big Man”   19XX – October 11, 2010
May he rest in peace.

Buck came to us from a rescue group in St. Louis. At the time, he was our only pet, and he became Dad’s best friend in no time. He was in pretty bad shape when we got him, having been neglected badly, and he had several medical problems including heart worms, infection, and near deafness. We got the first 2 fixed up in time, and he put on the weight he had lost, putting him up over 100 pounds. The hearing issue progressed beyond repair, and Buck became deaf within a couple of months of his arrival to us. This didn’t stop him from learning to obey hand signals and gestures though – anything for a treat or a pat on the head. He had a deep throaty bark, and Teri taught him to bark on command using a head nod. It was nice for when I was not home and she needed to answer the door. The folks outside had no idea there was a big orange marshmallow on the other side of the door, and it was enough to make most folks take a step back off the porch when they heard that!

He always had a smile, and wanted to be near people all the time. Here are some of his best traits:

Doing the bicycle – Buck would roll over on his back and pump his legs like he was riding a bike in an effort to scratch his back.

Growling tug-o-war - Because he was deaf, he couldn’t hear himself growl. Whenever we played tug, he would growl from beginning to end. He sounded ferocious, but wouldn’t hurt a fly for real.

Gentle treat grab – Whenever presented with a treat, he would take it ever so gently, making sure that he did not touch your hand at all. Our other Golden would take 2 or 3 fingers with the treat in excitement – but never Buck.

One second Woof – When I would leave for work in the morning, Buck would get mad. Early on when he was young and feeling good, he would go to work with me. As time went on and he couldn’t get into the truck anymore without falling, I started leaving him home. He didn’t like that and would stand in the front window and bark… WOOF (one second pause) WOOF (one second pause) WOOF and wake up everyone in the house. Of course since he was deaf, Teri couldn’t just yell down and tell him to hush. So she would have to descend the stairs and give him a nudge to interrupt his 1-second barking cycle. Eventually, we had to put blinds up in that window to keep from stressing out the big man so much.

The lean – Buck loved to be petted, by anyone. His typical position, if you were standing, was to come up to you and lean into your legs, putting his head under your hand. You almost had to pet him. If you didn’t, he would just go to the next person until someone did.

The keep away – Buck was the absolute master at playing keep away with a toy. He could have been an NFL running back with some of the moves he had. Even with both boys chasing him, he could dodge an attack with ease, making the boys look stupid, even making them run into each other at times.

Buck just loved the farm – he would wander around and smell everything. There was always lots to do there, and so many amazing smells and places to check out. I would let him out when I was working, and he would always stick close, never offering to take off or get into something he wasn’t supposed to. As time moved on, he was less and less tolerant of the trip, and he had to stay home. Bummer.

There were a few times when he got left outside by mistake. Even without a leash or a fence, Buck would never leave the yard. Once he realized he was alone, he would just go out and lay in the driveway waiting for his humans to come home again and pet him.

He also love being groomed. I guess it was his one vanity. After he would come back from the groomer, he pranced around like a proud peacock for a while so everyone could admire his silky coat. And whenever he would see us get out the brush from the drawer, he would come over and just stand in front of us for as long as it would take to brush his coat out. He loved being brushed.

About a year ago, we introduced a puppy into our home. You can read about that HERE and HERE. Our sons mentioned, and I agree, that they believe that Buck’s legacy is that he set Big on the right path before he left us. Big truly is an even-tempered dog, much like Buck. Now don’t get me wrong, he has his puppy moments. He is only 10 months old. But compared to other dogs his age, he truly is quite mellow and easy to manage. I attribute this to getting Big at such an early age (4 weeks) and allowing Buck to be his pseudo-papa and raise him up, so to speak. Buck and our other Golden to a lesser extent (she’s too much of a Diva, honestly) were responsible for his canine socialization. Buck transferred his mild-mannered disposition to Big and didn’t allow him to act like a fool. We really appreciate this. So thank you Buck… you done good Big Man!

It is really hard on the whole family to see Buck go. He was a huge part of our lives, and was so important to our sanity in an insane world. He will be truly missed, and can never be replaced.

Goodbye Big Man. We will be together again some day.

Ok, so we went to the Magic House. It was pretty cool. Not O.M.G. blow you away amazing, but cool. Here’s the reason why (and I need to grab a tissue and dose of reality)… my boys are getting older. This place is truly packed with so many terrific things to see, learn, and do for kids that are probably under the age of, oh say, 10. [M] really did dig most of it. [J] not so much. He was sort of just ambling along with us, a bit on the bored side although there were bits and pieces here and there that captured his attention for a few minutes at a time.

I think if I had time to spend with just [M] alone we could have really plunged head first into the science of it all more than we did this time. And perhaps we will again in a few months. This time we spent just a couple hours and I think we covered every single area. Now this is a huge place, which means that we were only able to spend a brief time exploring each section of the museum. What [M] and I may do is plan out some more focused trips and spend longer stints in each area and then perhaps over the course of this school year, we will have really covered the whole place. I mean really covered it.

The Magic House lets in homeschoolers one morning a month for a couple hours… just us. It’s not open to the general public and so it’s not so crowded and we get a bit of a discount too. We are quite grateful for that. There’s a local homeschool group that organizes a get-together there but info about rates and times is here if anyone from the area is reading.

Of course those of you that know me, know that I take a lot of photos. And I did just that. These are just some snaps from my point-n-shoot, and some aren’t even in focus or lit correctly but who really cares, right?

So without further ado… a lot of photos:

You all know that I’m a gleek. I picked this up after season 1 was over but I’m hooked. I love every character in this show, even Sue. I actually think that a spin-off show with Sue Sylvester and House would be great… I’m not sure who you would love to hate more.

Honestly, I think the real reason I love this show so much is because I sort of live vicariously through these “kids” (we all know they aren’t 16). I can’t sing for anything… and I’ve always wanted to be able to. So I guess I just love watching them do it, and do it well. That and it kept my attention off that train wreck of an Idol season last year.

And I’m not the only one that loves these gleeks… this show had 19 Emmy nominations this year so the proof is in the pudding. Mmm, pudding sounds good right now.

Anyway… of course you knew I was going to give you a video… here’s the sneak peek for this season and I picked another favorite video clip from a past season too.

Well, I have to say that I’m on the edge of my seat excited… are you? Here we go… man I love HBO. I’ve also loved Steve Buscemi’s acting since I saw him in Fargo.

I was a little sad when True Blood ended this season but this series promises to take my mind off of missing Sookie and Eric. And as an aside, for the first time in a long time, well honestly since The West Wing went off the air, I’m looking forward to NBCs fall lineup. More on that later… I have to pop some popcorn.

Warning: trailer is probably rated PG13.

Because I’m going to have enough broken eggs to make enough omelets for all my readers (both of you).

I’m going to be rearranging the layout here and well, organizing anything in my world is never a happy place for me. It usually consists of me starting out with a grand, well-intended plan with a box of post-it notes, a rainbow assortment of sharpies, file folders and lots of other office supplies… and ends up with a hefty bags full of things I didn’t remember saving, my hair tied up with the hefty ties meant for the bags (which means I can’t find the ties I need for the bags when I need them), lots of Red Bull and several carry out pizza orders and the occasional primal scream. I’m sure it will not differ here today, except my hair is already knotted up with something I found in a drawer, so I’m already ahead.

I hope the boys like quiche.

I’m not sure how many of you are Seinfeld junkies out there, but there is an episode where Jerry describes a tshirt he has had for a long time that he wears every time it is clean. Well I don’t wash my Chucks after each wear (the horror!) but they get worn weekly. Yes, I am a fashionista. Look out Rachel Zoe.

So I give you my Golden Boys, the iron men, the true warriors of my wardrobe… and the clip from Seinfeld that makes it so funny.

I use that expression all the time meaning that we’ve lost our mind, but this time we really did go to the zoo. This was a homeschool day out. As a part of a local group, we went on a scavenger hunt of sorts. It was a group of kids [M]‘s age-ish* (4th – 7th grade), and they all had a list of about 25 things they had to photograph. For example: an animal with claws, a herbivore, an animal swimming, you standing in front of an animal, an animal with its tongue out, an endangered animal, a mammal, a friend acting like an animal in front of the animal… an so on. So he toted his old Kodak digital camera around and we checked things off as he photographed them. I think we accomplished all but 2 of the assigned items before we were just exhausted. It really was a fun event! There were a lot of teen siblings that came along as well so [J] enjoyed the company. He was a big help with the list too.

And It was a PERFECT day; cool in the 70s with no crowds of course since everyone is at work or in school. Also, the stingray exhibit is free until 10am so that was a real treat. And as an aside, it was pretty great to let someone else have camera duty although I still managed to not get in a single photo. Hmph.

Oh well, without further ado, here are [M]‘s pics from his photo safari at the zoo today. (Oh and there’s a picture of Max’s shoes in there that I just love… it was an oops but it’s just too cute and I had to include it.)

I know it’s been a while but we are back. We had a very busy and eventful summer and regrettably the blog took a back seat to all that went on at the Eddy homestead. So I’ll be playing catch up over the next few months… that’s always the case.

Hopefully Roger will be able to show you soon too all that he has accomplished at the farm.

We have so much in store for our homeschooling year and I plan to tote my camera with me all the while. I know the old adage about good intentions but I can’t help but try, right? We really do have some fun things planned and I would be remiss as a parent if I didn’t take some photos.

So anyway, if you are reading, welcome back. I’ll try to get things cleaned up around there and ready for action.

And because I’m so excited for the upcoming season premier on September 21st, I’m going to leave you with one of my favorite clips from a previous season show:

photo credit: mockstar
Amazing!

Well, just like a prayer… answered… here’s the grand finale, Madonna’s Like a Prayer, in full, for your viewing pleasure. Now go set that DVR/TiVo for an extra 5 minutes of recording so this never happens again. We can all thank Idol for this mishap.

Sorry for the lyrics all over the video… all the others (besides live versions) have been yanked from youtube. Hulu has some versions up but I have a heck of a time embedding those without them looking too small.

First of all, I’m testing a bit to see if this new microblog widget really works and if I like it. And second, I thought I’d entertain you a little with what I think my future holds as a photographer/mother of 2 young boys.

And the hundreds of other characters Diana Gabaldon has introduced in the first 3 books in her Outlander series. I finally finished Dragonfly in Amber, her 2nd book in the series that is quite a bit longer than the first book, and equally exciting.

It picks up in a bit of a confusing spot… sort of an OMG moment for the reader and it takes a chapter or 2 of panic-stricken, heart thumping reading to figure out what on earth has happened from the time between the end of the first book and the beginning of this one. But the author circles you back around just in time to tie it all together and keep you enthralled and ready for what happens next which is always an exciting adventure. She introduces many new characters and new places in this book, all in amazing detail that makes you feel like you are there seeing it with your own eyes. The emotions are human, meaning that sometimes you want to throttle the characters you love so much because they say or do things that make you so angry… just like real life. You love these characters, but they do have flaws… and you love those flaws too. And those of you that read it will attest to the fact that upon completion I had to immediately start into the next book Voyager without delay.

I can’t imagine if I were reading these books right after publishing, knowing that I’d have to wait maybe a year or more to find out what happens next. Gabaldon has mastered the art of cliff-hanging. So I’m nearly done with Voyager and it may be my most favorite yet. The first time in the series, I’ve found myself laughing out loud. And I think the way the author writes the comedic episodes, you can really play them out in your mind… really picture the characters doing and saying these funny things and it’s like watching a movie. And laughing at the scene on the screen. Well done, Diana! The book is filled with just as much adventure as the 2 previous books. You don’t get a rest before the next bit of mayhem ensues. You see many different places and new sides to our favorite characters. Oh and there’s a character in this book, a priest, that I picture as John Cleese if they were to ever make a movie of this book (which I so think they should… an HBO or Showtime series at minimum.)

I should be done with Voyager today and then plan to crack open the next in line, Drums of Autumn, and will be sure to report back in on that one as I get done with it. I would have never guessed this would be a genre that interested me, but I’m 100% sucked in. I said the same thing about the Twilight and Sookie books… never read a vampire book in my life and never intended too. And then inside of a year, I had finished 13 of them I think. So never say never, right?

By the way, the scene at the top is artist David Morier’s rendition of the Battle at Culloden. This was the final battle of the 1945 Jacobite Rising, a defeated effort to restore Charles Stuart to the British throne. The Battle of Culloden took place on April 16, 1746 and was waged on British soil near the town of Iverness in the Scottish Highlands. It was an important event in this book series.

Ok, a little treat from the Easter Bunny for all of his 007 secret agents out there. Grab a marshmallow peep and follow along:

Ingredients:

• 1 shot Peach Vodka
• 1/2 shot Blackberry Brandy
• 1 shot Malibu Rum
• 1/2 shot Grenadine
• Sour Mix
• Jelly beans

Directions:

Fill martini shaker half full of ice. Add alcohol ingredients and grenadine, then cover with sour mix. Shake vigorously and pour into martini glass. Add your favorite flavor jelly beans to your drink Enjoy!

Optional:

• Line rim with sugar
• Cover with Red Bull instead of sour mix. Be sure to add Red Bull to your shopping list if you decide to try it.

Enjoy and let me know what you think. It’s my own recipe, the original recipe I found was, I daresay, too potent for this light-weight. And no one wants to have to be squeegee’d home on Easter Sunday.

We recently got a bread maker. We had one way back 15 years ago when we were first married. But I admit, it didn’t see much action. Then when we moved the first time, it didn’t make the cut and was donated to the Good Will or some such.

Well, we decided to get another and I’ve been having a good old time acting all Suzy-homemaker. I’ve tried a couple recipes from scratch, and to my surprise, I successfully made white and wheat bread. Both totally edible. I’ve also made some different varieties from the packaged mixes I get through the produce co-op. I’ve made Irish soda bread, potato bread, cranberry bread, Bavarian pretzel dough, and today was rye.

Now before you get all impressed (because I know you are), the packages are nothing more than a 3-4 step process. Cut the bag open with scissors (or my teeth in this case because I couldn’t find any scissors), put wet and dry ingredients in, add yeast to the yeast holder thingy, set the machine to the size and crust darkness desired, then go polish my nails and read Cosmo until the machine beeps.

It takes about 4 hours from giddy-up to whoa. And I usually time it so it’s ready just a bit before hubby is due home. The house is filled with that fresh-bread aroma, I don my apron and put a little flour on my face and in my hair, for effect. He realizes I did nothing but open the plastic bag and pour, but it’s the dramatic presentation I’m going for. I whine a little about slaving all day so he can have fresh out-of-the-oven bread (I promise it’s charming) and he smiles and kisses me as though to say, “I love you no matter how stupid you think I am.”

Well, today, after the rye loaf was done, I sliced it nicely with full intent to make Pastrami Reubens for dinner. Now before all you corned beef fanatics chime in and tell me I’m doing it wrong, visit the Carnegie or Katz Deli and New York and tell them first. They serve their Reubens with corned beef OR pastrami. So there. Oh, and I’ll omit the sauerkraut because I think it’s nasty. Sue me. But instead of going to get said pastrami (and Russian dressing), I took a nap and we had leftovers.

But the rye bread was great and hubby and I will have Reubens this week sometime if I get off my butt and go grocery shopping. I may even re-enact Meg Ryan’s famous scene from When Harry Met Sally… you know the one… the “I’ll have what she’s having” scene. But for now, I’ll share some pictures of the fruits of my labor.

We have this cool slicer thing that catches most of the crumbs, and a better than average serrated bread knife (a necessity).

I also use these washable and reusable bread bags that close with velcro. They are made of a light canvas on the outside and lined with plastic that you can wash. Just roll up the end as you use the bread and close it up with the velcro, kind of like a tube of toothpaste. Another very small thing that hubby suggested we do to reduce our carbon footprint. (Doesn’t that sound so cool? I wish I knew what it meant.)

And for those of you that want to try this at home (no, really, it’s safe), here’s the package I used. Bob’s Red Mill Stone Ground Rye Bread Mix. Although I got it through the co-op, I know I’ve seen it at the local supermarkets, along with the other varieties.

As you can see, there’s no shame in my game. I’m proud to fake it! So get out there and fake it like me! And then report back in… I promise to be in awe of your mad faking baking skills. And so will Betty. Well, probably… Ok, I won’t commit to that. But I’ll give you a virtual high five and slap on the ass (just like the pros do it) and everyone here will be sworn to secrecy if you want them to be.

Oh, and if you are local and want to get in on the co-op (the prices are much better than the supermarket except you have to buy in case quantities) check out their website: Community Helpings Produce Co-op.

Hi guys! I want to thank everyone for their messages. I get lots of requests for updated Big photos. It seems he’s become quite the celebrity since I first posted his puppy pictures about 3 months ago. Well, much has changed with Big, the obvious thing being his size. He’s quite a bit, well, bigger. We knew we were getting a big dog, hence his name. We just didn’t know how appropriate his name would become.

At his last puppy visit to The Pet Doctor, my wonderful, amazing veterinarian, Marcy Hammerle, predicted that he may be upwards of 150 pounds full grown! Umm, wow. That is big. Really big. The staff there is so nice and they were all amazed at how he had changed in just 4 weeks.  One tech said he had a “man face” and I think she’s right. Sometimes you just know a dog is a male dog. That’s Big… all boy… even at 17 weeks of age. That was last Friday and he weighed in at 52 lbs.

He now weighs 56 pounds. That’s a gain of 4 pounds in one week. At that rate, he’ll be over 100 pounds by 7 months of age. We may have to rename him Huge. So I think Dr. Hammerle is probably right on with her prediction of his potential size.

He also started obedience training and is doing so well. He’s a smart little, um I mean big, puppy. He’s still quite distracted by 1 or 2 of the other dogs in the training room. He has private lessons but there are always a few dogs in there having their own private lessons too. Hopefully by the end of the summer his puppy boot camp will be complete and then he’ll move on to personal protection training. Although, just his size and appearance is enough to scare away would-be evil-doers.

He’s still very much puppy at heart and in his personality, but people mistake him for a full grown dog a lot. He’s taller than my 10 year old female Golden Retriever so I understand why.

One of my favorite things about Big is is funny little dog ‘fro on top his head. That hair just likes to stand up everywhere like a lion’s mane. I hope he doesn’t lose it. The rest of his fluffy puppy hair is morphing into a silky dark saddle back with true sable markings. He’s just so dreamy!

If you are at all interested in the breed, check my other Big post and there’s some history there about how the breed originated and is being preserved today. I’ll try to take some pictures of him during his training class and I’ll be sure to update all you Big fans as often as I can.

Lastly, I think back before Christmas and remember being very skeptical about getting a puppy, especially in the dead of winter. But I must say that this fellow has captured my heart almost as much as one of my own babies. Sometimes I just look at him and say, “You are just so CUTE!” He has yet to make good friends with the cats, the but the rest of the house loves him just as much as I do.

Here are some more snaps from yesterday’s impromptu photo shoot (click the thumbnails to enlarge):

I do joke about this a lot… Migraine: The Musical… Vicodin: The Musical, etc. But if you really tried to envision a migraine musical, it would likely be completely silent and dark with all the actors ambling about moaning and holding their heads, perhaps vomiting, and some would just be unconscious under a blanket. Not much to see and certainly not a contender for Broadway.

But those of us that have migraines would feel an emotional connection to each and every member of the cast. So without further ado, I give you… THE CAST (a not-at-all-complete list of migraine bloggers and other resources about migraines that may be helpful.)

• A ClusterHead’s Life
• Abi’s Migrainous Wanderings
• chronic holiday
• Chronic Life
• Cure My Migraine
• Diversity in Pain Management
• Doc’s Cluster Headache Journal
• Down the Rabbit Hole
• Fly With Hope
• Free my Brain from Migraine Pain
• Glass Pineapple
• Headache & Migraine News
• headaches and movies
• Her Life in a Nutshell…
• herself (gluten-free)
• I Don’t Know…
• In My Head…aches
• InnerDorothy
• Keep Working, Girlfriend
• Kelli’s Migraine Daily
• La Migraineuse
• Life at the Headbanger’s Ball
• Life in the Canadian Desert
• Living With AFP
• Living With Migraines
• Migraine Blog
• Migraine Chick
• Migraine Community
• Migraine Living
• Migraine Misery
• Migraine Nation
• Migraine News
• Migraine Truth
• MigraineCast
• Migraines & Me
• Mommy Migraine
• Moogle’s Thoughts
• My life with migraine
• My Migraine Battle
• Nancy Bonk
• New York Times Migraine Blog
• Nickie’s Nook
• Pain in the Head
• Pink Pearl Girl’s Migraine World
• Planinatrix
• Putting Our Heads Together
• RainGem
• Rhymes with Migraine
• Somebody Heal Me
• Sparkling With Crystals
• Stream of Unconsciousness
• Teri Robert
• The Dawktor is Out!
• The Daily Headache
• The Migraine Girl
• The Sassy Lime
• War on Headaches
• Weathering Migraine Storms
• WebMD: Pain Management & Migraine
• Wind Lost

My goal is to visit at least 3 blogs a day on the list and comment, commiserate, or just say “hey, how’s your melon today?” We gotta stick together right? Maybe if we put our collective, yet pounding, heads together, we’ll lick this thing. Please, if you suffer from migraines, take a peek at a few blogs when you can. I think you’ll find you may learn a thing or two, or at minimum find a bit of comfort in connecting with others out there that really do know what you are going through.

Now, I am not making this entire blog about migraines. I know I’ve written a couple times about it, but it’s just a part of who I am. I does affect our family as a whole and so I felt it important to document. We all come to speed bumps in life that get in the way of the path to our goals. For me, migraines are my speed bumps… and sometimes they are a monster pot hole or a row of those orange barrels with a big sign on them that says WRONG WAY. So from time to time, I’ll keep you guys up to date on how things are shaping up in my far from perfect brain. I appreciate all the well-wishes and the comments. I’m sure these other bloggers would too.

Blog image above courtesy of Steven Andreas Lieske. You can see more of his work here: http://mogasaki.deviantart.com/

If so, then you won’t be disappointed in these flowers. (By the way, that title is a quote from one of my all time favorite movies, A Knight’s Tale.)

My pal Pam and I went to the orchid show at the Missouri Botanical Gardens on Saturday. I’m so glad she invited me… it had been years since I’d been there and quite a long while since she and I had time to hang out. For me, the latter was the high point and the flowers were just gravy. Pam is one of the most sensible and honest women I know and we just chatted and chatted, and I didn’t want to leave! But we had walked all through the gallery and even the outdoor gardens where most everything was dead or dormant. We enjoyed it anyway.

So without further ado, I give you… orchids. I really have no idea what any of them are called. I wasn’t paying very close attention to the signs, just the pretty petals.

(Click on a thumbnail to see it larger and then you can toggle through them from there.)

Here are a few facts about orchids (courtesy of Missouri Botanical Gardens), just to make this post a little educational:

• Orchids are the largest flowering plant family in the world, with 30,000-35,000 species.
• Orchids come in all sizes — from pinhead to football!
• Orchids grow wild on every continent except Antarctica.

Thanks for visiting my blog! I appreciate all of you stopping by.

I hate daylight savings time. There, I said it. I don’t like the shorter days in the fall nor the dark mornings in the spring. It takes my body days to adjust and I grumble to myself the entire time cursing whomever thought of such a torturous event.

There are 2 presumed architects of the original idea of daylight savings time. They both had pretty much the same idea but it manifested itself due to different reasons. (And NO, Al Gore is neither of these men.) The original proponent of DST was a New Zealander named George Vernon Hudson. He proposed the extended daylight hours so he could collect bugs after he got off of his shift at work. His idea is that there are more productive hours after work shifts end when DST is in effect. Ben Franklin was another man on the list… his rationale was primarily economic and he thought it would save money on candles (or modern day light bulbs) if people had more daylight to work with. His idea is that if you require less artificial lighting in the evening, despite requiring more in the morning, one would consume less energy and save money. Countless studies have found this savings to be either negligible or completely false. In fact, some even found the opposite to happen, meaning DST actually increases energy consumption in the hotter months due to more air conditioner use in the evening hours during the hottest days of the year. You can read here if you want to see the sources that are cited in these studies. There are also studies that show that more gas consumption occurs during DST… and well, that’s no good at all!

From a political perspective, leaders will argue that lengthening the summer hours will lead to healthier citizens overall because they are allowed more leisure pursuits in the longer days. However the change of time, in and of itself, is cited as the cause of many detrimental physical and mental health problems. Some cite that it increases depression in the winter months (I can attest to this) and night blindness sufferers, well, they suffer longer. Other studies found an increase in heart attack and suicide rates in men after in the initial weeks after the spring time change, and other claim the the sleep and circadian rhythm disruption can last for weeks after each time change which can lead to other health problems as well.

Economically, from the perspective of the retailers, DST is advantageous because people can shop longer and later. People get out more when there is more light in the evening and patronize area stores, restaurants, and sporting events. So that’s a plus… but at what cost? Evening entertainment promoters oppose DST because dark comes later and later in the summer. We all know this because sometimes, at 4th of July celebrations, we must wait until well after 9pm or later to see the fireworks. Boo!

As for me… I wish it would go away. I’ll still have plenty of time in the summer evenings to get done what need be done and my mornings would be much more productive if Mr. Golden Sun would appear earlier. As for the shift back in the fall, it does nothing but completely mess with my mental state (ask my poor hubby.)

And as a last thought… think of all the hours in total we spend changing clocks. I wonder how many hours it takes, globally, to accommodate this change. I have a dozen clocks in my house so setting them all takes probably 15 min all together. Multiply that by the number people that are forced to participate in this nonsense and the total time is likely astronomical. Surely that wasted time could be better spent, you know, curing cancer, creating cold fusion, or something equally important.

So I finished Outlander by Diana Gabaldon sooner than I expected. I realized on Saturday, when I only had about 25% left to read, that I didn’t have book 2 of the series. So I ordered it, and the other 5 in the series, right away. Well, I knew it wouldn’t arrive until today and there I was stuck on Sunday with nothing to read because I had finished Outlander at 2am the night before. (See my other post for my thoughts.)

So I grabbed what I knew was going to be a quick and easy read… Sam’s Letters to Jennifer by James Patterson. He is a prolific writer and has something for pretty much everyone from mystery to romance. I prefer the latter from him. It’s a very short book… ~250 very short pages and I finished it in about 2 hours. Maybe 2 1/2. It’s a very sweet story. There were times in the book where I teared up a bit… not a gut-wrencher or anything but I did use a couple tissues. They were both happy and sad tears. But the sad ones weren’t intolerable.

If you end up reading this book, I would also recommend Sundays at Tiffany’s and I hear that Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas is a great one too. It’s his most successfully selling novel to date, evidently. I have it too, and will pick it up next time I have a chance. These would make great travel reading because you could likely finish them on any average domestic flight.

Here’s the synopsis of Sam’s Letters to Jennifer (from BarnesAndNoble.com):

Jennifer returns to the resort village where she grew up to help a beloved relative—and ends up experiencing not one, but two of the most amazing love stories she’s ever known. In a series of letters that Jennifer finds in the lakefront house, her relative reveals that she has concealed a huge secret for decades: her great love is not the man she was married to for all those years. As Jennifer reads about this passionate partnership, she learns more about love’s imperatives and secrets than she ever dreamed possible. And then comes the biggest surprise of all. At a time when she thought she could never love again, Jennifer lets her guard down for a moment—and is suddenly caught up in the most exhilarating journey she’s ever experienced. Then, just as suddenly, she learns that this new love comes with an unbearable cost. Jennifer doesn’t think she can survive the pain—but the letters she’s been reading make her think that love may help her find a way.

I’ll be blogging about the rest of the Outlander books as I get through them. I am stalking the UPS guy today for my delivery of Dragonfly in Amber, along with the others.

(Image above courtesy of Manoillon of WikimediaFoundation.org.)

I just started reading this after coming off of the Sookie Stackhouse novels (a.k.a. True Blood on HBO) by Charlaine Harris. It’s always a good sign when you smile and even laugh on page 4 of a book. Diana Gabaldan didn’t waste any time endearing her characters to the reader. The main character, Claire, is a strong-willed and independent character that is thrust into a frightening reality when she is transported through time back to the 18th century Scotland. The event that caused this time travel is vague in the book, but you get the idea that she happened upon a portal of some sort but I’ve yet to learn any other details.

Her life in 1945 Britain, and her modern-day marriage, seems to be lost. I’m only about a 1/3 way into the book so I don’t know much and won’t spoil what I do know up to this point. I can tell you that it’s already filled with mystery, intrigue, and even romance (which I always like), and of course the sci-fi, or perhaps fantasy element of time travel.

More to come as I get deeper into the series. I’ll keep you updated as I advance through her novels in this series. I think there are 7 books total but not certain.

Here is a summary excerpt:

The year is 1945. Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon–when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient stone circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach–an “outlander”–in a Scotland torn by war and raiding Highland clans in the year of Our Lord…1743.

Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire is catapulted into intrigues and dangers that may threaten her life…and shatter her heart. For here she meets James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, and becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire…and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.

Image at top courtesy of the Wikimedia Foundation: a non-profit foundation dedicated to bringing free content to the world.

Most everyone that knows me knows that I get a lot of migraines. I don’t say it to garner pity from anyone. Just stating facts. And the facts are that since about 1992, the year I graduated college, I’ve been plagued with migraines. I get about 20 migraines a month. Now that seems like a lot, and for a while they were indeed debilitating, but I’ve found a terrific migraine clinic here in St. Louis that has been treating me for about 5 years and they are for the most part manageable now. I still get a dinger from time to time, and I still get about 20 a month, but the majority of them are mild enough where the meds I take either abate the headache all together or lessen it enough so that I can carry on with my day to day functions. But the truth is, it’s still pretty sucky to have that many headaches. And usually when I get them, even the mild ones, I get cravings for my favorite comfort food… mashed potatoes. Yes, carbs. The hallmark craving of a migranueur. They are not always the best thing for my headache but they make my soul feel good. C’mon, we all have a comfort food… there’s an entire line of books touting the soulful goodness of chicken soup for crying out loud. So no dissing my mashed potatoes.

Needless to say, I eat a lot of mashed potatoes. (And I wonder why I can’t lose these 6 pounds I’ve recently found on my hips.) Like I said, they make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. But the truth is, they do nothing to help my headache and chances are, they are making them worse because of the carb load. So, I feel the need to ration my servings of them lately and have turned to more creative methods for making myself feel better when a migraine strikes. Anyone that has migraines will tell you that they’ll try just about anything to feel better when they are in pain. Here are some of the things that I’ve tried… truthfully, none of them work. I mean, ok, maybe they take my mind off the headache temporarily, but I end up using the FDA approved methods most… and that’s sucky too.

Ok, here they are, in the order that I think of them. Feel free to laugh at the image of me doing any of these. I know, in retrospect, I get a giggle from those images too. And please, anyone that has had migraines and found something that works, COMMENT! Maybe we’ll all try it and it will work and you’ll become famous and hormonal women far and wide will build a shrine to you!

1. I crunch things. It can be anything really… Pringles or pretzels… just something crunchy. I have no idea what this does except maybe run interference with the pain impulses in my brain. I liken it to my not being able to make a left turn across traffic with the radio on. I can’t listen to music and judge the cars’ distance from me at the same time. I also can’t find an address with the music on either, but I digress. The crunching is just loud enough in my brain to be distracting. The relief ends when I run out of chips.
2. Red Bull… I love Red Bull. To me, it’s the nectar of the Gods. I have been known to slam a Red Bull along with my pain meds. I know Red Bull gives you wings, but sometimes I find myself flying alongside Lucy through tangerine trees and marshmallow skies… Don’t try this unsupervised.
3. Ice and Heat. I’ve used an ice pack and a heating pad… sometimes simultaneously. I only ever ended up with a cold or hot head. Or both.
4. Hot Bath. It certainly calms me down especially when there’s nausea involved… but it takes a while and it sucks when you have to jump out of a bath, run over to the toilet soaking wet and hurl. It makes a huge mess and it’s a fall hazard if you’ve got tile floors. Nothing like knocking your melon on the sink because you slipped on the tile whilst running across the bathroom strip stark naked soaking wet vomiting. Next.
5. Pressure points. I have no idea where I ever heard this but I had my husband squeeze a pressure point in the webbing of my hand between the thumb and forefinger, which is supposed to relieve headache pain. This honestly hurts like hell and only makes you have a head and hand ache.
6. Carbs… yes, I’m circling back to the mashed potatoes, but am also including any refined sugar within reach. It’s a craving thing… probably because my blood sugar is low. Never a good idea really… only prolongs the agony. I’m experimenting with sweet potatoes though… they are supposed to have a low glycemic index. I’m a bit afraid of turning orange like babies do that eat too many of them. I’ll report back when I have any confirmed results or when I turn orange.
7. Hair pulling… yes, hair pulling. There is a tension component to migraines. Any woman who has ever had a long ponytail in all day knows the feeling of finally letting it down at the end of the day and feeling your scalp return to a normal position. I have thick hair and honestly the weight of it can sometimes trigger tension, which can in turn trigger a migraine. Sounds hokey right? Well the hair pulling sort of relaxes my scalp, but also hurts as much as the headache does. I have a friend that has tried to convince me to let her pull my ears. Now she’s a fellow PT so I trust she’s onto something. I’ll report back on that one too (if we are still friends after I let her have her way with my ears.)
8. Protein intake… this goes along with the whole low blood sugar idea. I’ve been known to eat a coupla Big Macs when I was in desperate pain. Result: guilt for ingesting nearly 100 fat grams in 10 minutes. Pain still there. And now nausea too. I think I need to explore better protein options.
9. Mind over matter. Doesn’t work. The pain’s real. The whole “chin-up” thing is nice in theory, but I’m still in pain no matter if I’m smiling in the carpool lane, grocery store aisle. bleachers, bowling league, photo shoot, or anywhere else that I am required to be as a mother and wife. Yes, I look pale and grumpy, and no I don’t have anything in my eyes. If you ask what’s wrong, and all I do is mime the shhh sign then tap my head with my finger, please accept my advanced apology and excuse my rude behavior and overall crappy mood.
10. Dark room, no sound, & pain meds. Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner. Ok, we all know this makes us feel better. And sometimes it’s the only thing you can tolerate when the headaches are bad. Light hurts. Noise hurts. And the darkness and quiet helps me fall asleep which is nice too. I know it’s not always feasible to retreat to a dark hole and hibernate until the pain goes away but I must say that I am blessed with 3 very understanding and loving men in my life that hate to see me in pain. I also have loving family nearby that will swoop in in an instant and help when I need it. We’ve all bonded in the ER together when they are bad and they understand that sometimes they just make my life stop. I love every one of them for that (and for a thousand other reasons.)

I wanted to add too that I take a full complement of other medications that act as prophylactics and some triptans to abate the headache. Some work. Some work for a while. Some never do. My doctor is patient and understanding and hates to see me in pain. We keep trying new things, and sometimes we come back to some old things to give them another try. With my loving family, my caring doctor, and lots of mashed potatoes (and Red Bull), I keep on keepin’ on.

Please, if you suffer with migraines, tell us what you do that helps or doesn’t. As you can see, I’m willing to try anything… nothing will seem too bizarre, I promise.

Oh, and I guess a disclaimer is necessary… I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV. None of this should be construed as medical advice. Please see your doctor before trying any of the ridiculous things I’ve tried above, and please try to keep a straight face while asking him/her if they are ok.

Lastly, a little friend of mine from Massachusetts, who knows I get a lot of headaches, made this for me. It’s a model of a nice little patio table with a sun umbrella and hammock that he thought would be comfortable for me to rest in when I got headaches. I think that it’s the perfect little migraine-relief oasis, don’t you?

The photo up top is from friend and fellow photographer, Laura of OurHouseOfJoyfulNoise.com. It’s an image she created for me… a depiction of what she imagined it must feel like to get migraine headaches. I think she nailed it.

[M] spends the better part of his days down on the farm riding his quad. Luckily there are many trails cut out near the house that all lead back to the yard. So he’s able to go out on them by himself and he won’t get lost. He also spends a lot of time just riding around the yard trying new tricks out. He’s taken some spills, and he’s ran into a tree several times, but he wears a helmet and so far has only had a couple scrapes and bruises. He’s tough.

He wanted me to show you all some pictures of him riding. So here you go… oh, the image up top is me trying to do some panning while he speeds past me.

This is out on the trails:

And these are just him riding around in the yard:

He says crouching down like this makes him more aerodynamic:

[M], you rock! Here’s a little video of [M] and his brother motoring around the yard. I’m no Martin Scorsese so cut me some slack on the video taking skills… or lack thereof.

Ok, so we have this book that is sort of a field guide to being a “free-range” child. It’s called 50 Dangerous Things (You Should Let Your Children Do). It’s not teaching them to build a nuclear device or plan a hostile takeover of a 3rd world nation… it’s just filled with stuff that we did as kids. And yes, it advises you of the risks involved with each activity and parents should obviously supervise most of them… but, well get the book. We survived, they will too.

One of the activities in the book is to let your child drive a car. Now this is practical for a lot of reasons, and once your child can reach the pedals, why not start to teach them? So here we go…

Today [J] (of the Jungle) had his first driving lesson on the Polaris Rzr, which is a side-by-side quad we keep at the farm. Roger and Keith made a mount for my Canon G9 so that we could have a quad-cam along for the ride. So below you can watch the entire video of our first ride around the property. He did a great job! After the first few minutes, he got the steering down just fine (must be all those video games paying off) and the shifting, gas and brake pedals came naturally to him. We took it slow down the main driveway, which winds back and forth quite a bit, and he opened it up a bit when we got to the road and the straight section of the 2nd driveway. He was smiling the whole time! Max came along too. He rode behind us to start then went ahead during the home stretch. You’ll see him in the video. We ran off a gaggle of turkeys in the road and you’ll see that in the video too… barely. I wasn’t controlling the camera or I could have zoomed in on them.

Warning… it’s a pretty long video since we took it kind of slow. But if you want to see a little of our farm, it’s sort of the 5¢ tour. There are more trails, but well, they look a lot alike.

I know I said I’d try to update the blog chronologically from where I left off at the beginning of winter, but this is fresh in my head so I wanted to blog about it before I lost it for good…

This week, I finished Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse novels. Such fun books to read! I swear, I never thought vampire lore was a genre that I’d take a liking to. I never read Anne Rice, despite loving most everything about New Orleans, and never really even watched vampire movies on TV (well except when Brad Pitt was playing one). So after I finished the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer last year, my mom recommended these books to me. She’d started the series and said they were something totally different than Twilight but equally enjoyable. At the time, we were just beginning homeschooling and I just couldn’t dive into another series of books because once I do, I’m stuck in them until I’m finished. So I waited.

I ended up watching season 1 of HBO’s True Blood, which is based on the books, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Warning: it definitely belongs on cable. Wow. I haven’t seen season 2 yet but am looking forward to when HBO reruns them before the 3rd season begins.

So I finally got around to starting the books… and this really isn’t a spoiler but the first book in the series is basically season 1 of True Blood from start to finish. So it was tough to get through since it felt as though I was reading a rerun. The advantage to seeing the series first is that I had all the faces and voices cemented in my head to match the show. That was an issue with Twilight… I hadn’t seen the movie or even the trailer for that matter before finishing all the books and when I finally did, none of the faces matched what I had in my head and it was so hard to reconcile that. I still struggle to this day. Rob Pattinson is not what I envisioned Edward to look like. At all.

But anyway, back to Sookie… she’s fantastic through the rest of the books. She’s spunky, independent, and comfortable in her own curvy skin. I love this about her and I’m so glad they didn’t portray her as a skinny supermodel type in the series either. Anna Paquin has curves too. She’s by no means a big girl… but she won’t blow away with the breeze either. Here she is with Vampire Bill (a.k.a. Stephen Moyer… they are engaged in real life.)

Sookie has just terrible luck. I mean, she goes from one day to the next battling evil supernatural forces, fending off execution attempts, and dealing with vampires and other strange creatures vying for her affection… and blood. There are currently 9 books, with a 10th book due out in May of this year… can’t wait! I actually didn’t realize that it wasn’t a complete series when I started to read. It’s usually my custom to wait until the series is all done before I begin, because like I said before, when I dig in, I’m stuck in the story. So I was left hanging at the end of book 9 wondering what will happen next. Truthfully, there’s enough action, romance, and mystery in each book to satisfy you until the next one comes along. I don’t mind at all waiting. Maybe Ms. Harris will just keep turning out Sookie books for a long time… I won’t complain!

I won’t give any more away except to say it’s adult fiction. And certainly the show is rated R. If you are looking for an exciting story to lose yourself in for a while, take book 1 for a spin and see how you like it.

Ok, so I got a puppy for Christmas. I wasn’t drugged, as far as I know. There’s even a vague recollection of me actually asking for one. It’s fuzzy (my memory). It gets all jumbled up in my mind… I hear squeaker toys, smell puppy breath, with some shivering cold outside at 2am in my bathrobe in there too… I think I actually did this willfully though. Does that mean I’m as crazy as I’ve long suspected? Probably. But the truth is… I love my puppy. I love everything about him. He’s the smartest, cutest, fluffiest, most lovable-est puppy in the history of puppies.

So, the details. He’s an East German Shepherd. Which are mostly like a regular German Shepherds, but with a stockier build, different coat, bred for the old-style working traits of a German Shepherd. Google the breed name if you are interested. These dogs are sometimes called DDR Shepherds. DDR is not Dance Dance Revolution, although I bet I could teach him a few moves. It’s an acronym for Deutsche Demokratische Republik, or East Germany. Here’s a snippet from EastGermanShepherd.com:

“EAST GERMAN SHEPHERD CENTRAL is devoted to the German Shepherd Dog of the former East Germany, the Deutsche Demokratische Republik or “DDR” (1949-1990). The DDR was a political, social, economic, and geographic entity that was physically solidified with the tragically oppressive construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, and which began its political and physical dissolution with the history-making and liberating fall of that barrier on November 9, 1989.

Just as the geo-political entity formerly known as the “DDR” no longer exists today, the “DDR German Shepherd Dog” is a historical relic of a bygone time and place, and it no longer exists today. Rather, the generations of true “DDR” bloodlines are limited to a span of roughly four decades of breeding and development in the former East Germany. These bloodlines may be found in the third, fourth, and further generations back in the pedigrees of working, sporting, and companion dogs found around the world today. These modern representatives of the German Shepherd Dog breed, with a genetic heritage in the former DDR bloodlines, have their true provenance determined by the place of their actual birth.”

Well he came to us small, as you can see in the pic above. But that didn’t last. We knew he was going to get big in a hurry. His mama and papa were big. His grandparents were big… grandpa is a Grafental (for the DDR GSD folks that may be reading). At 4 weeks, when we brought him home because his mama was getting aggressive with the pups, he weighed just 7 pounds. I know that seems like a lot since he was born at just under a pound… imagine growing that fast! Well, he just kept growing… and growing… and growing… and the vet was amazed… and everyone that saw him from week to week was amazed… and he’s now 34 pounds at just 12 weeks.

Now some of you may be thinking that bringing him home at 4 weeks is terrible. It definitely is too early. And we were concerned about this. But his mother had been so aggressive that the breeder had completely weaned the pups and started them on a raw meat diet just a few days before he came home. We got some puppy formula and mixed it with his kibble and he ate it that way for a few days. Not long after he would gobble up the dry kibble like it was nothing. He had plenty of teeth. The vet said as long as he was eating that we didn’t need to use the formula anymore. He hasn’t stopped eating since. Vet said, increase food by 1/3, he’s skinny. Then she said increase again by 1/3, he’s still a bit skinny. He’s now eating more than our 100lb golden retriever does in a day. And he’s still on the skinny side underneath his doggie ‘fro.

Ok, enough is enough… did I mention how much I love him? I mean the real gushy, slobbery kind of love…

I call him Big.

Here’s Big at 8wks:

And here is Big today, at 12wks of age. I love those ears.

I’ve been an absentee blogger. Not that I have a huge following (mostly me and a few friends I bribe to read and comment) but I do enjoy it. I miss being here. The winter really got to me this year… I usually get a little blue during the short days of December and January. But the worst is behind me and I’m craving the sunshine that we get every few days now.

We had a busy holiday, as usual. We saw family and friends and enjoyed every frazzled minute of it. Also, Roger began building the energy building down at the farm. But then it turned colder and the work was halted. The boys are zooming along in their studies and bowling again this semester. [J] will begin Lacrosse soon, as well as voice lessons. [M] is back at the electric guitar… my little rocker. I have pictures to show off and stories to tell… and I’ll do that slowly but surely over the month of February, trying to do things chronologically as best I can.

So, if you are reading this… thanks for your patience and welcome back. We appreciate you stopping by. I hope the picture warms you up like it does me. When I was thinking about what image to put up, this one seemed ideal. It’s by no means recent, but still one of my all time favorites… and a perfect symbol for me jumping back up into the blogosphere.

This is a family blog, so you’ll have to use your imagination on the title.

With all the goings-on at the farm, it’s a bit hard to document it all. Being the absolute blogging horse that I am (this is #2… ever) I couldn’t resist the opportunity to brag on the lumber we milled this weekend from real trees. I personally find trees the best source for lumber of pretty much all kinds, so that’s where we focused this weekend. Trees.

As part of clearing the land in preparation for the new structures, pond, etc. we ended up with lots of um… trees… that are just in the way. When I say lots, it doesn’t really do it justice. For those board feet enthusiasts out there (you know who you are) we literally have thousands lying around, stacked up in places all over the farm. By my calculations (I consulted NASA) we have cleared a total of 13 acres of mostly oak, pine, and cedar. There was lots of other stuff in there too, like blackjack, willow, and other basically useless trees, but there are also pecan (pronounced pee-can, not pa-khan when you come to Eddy Farms) walnut, and some other highly valuable exotic trees. All in all, we have a really productive woodlot.

So, I decided some time ago to invest in a sawmill to convert the downed trees into usable lumber. Able to cut a 32″ diameter log, 17′ long, and leap tall buildings in a single bound, I give you Blade 3.

Sorry, let’s try again.

I call her Blade 3 because I ruined the first 2 blades in the first 20 minutes because I am a giant ignoramus. Couple quick tips to those just starting out: make sure the log is anchored down (duhhh, you’ll bend the blade when the log comes flying out with the blade still in it) and try not to hit the metal parts of the saw with the WOOD-cutting blade.

With those unpleasantries aside, let’s see what this thing will do!

First was oak…

then cedar…

Then cornstalks. I won’t post those pics, not pretty. I am pretty sure we will stick to trees for all our lumber needs going forward. I guess I thought that “wood grain” was named after plants like wheat. Not so much as it turns out.

After we got done with the sawmill, we ran a few pieces thru the planer and jointer. The results earned oooohs and ahhhs. Of course I took all the credit for the sheer beauty nature is capable of, right after I buried the first 2 blades where the evidence will never be found.

We really love the idea of building our house from the surroundings. In a previous life, I spent a lot of time woodworking. The first house Teri and I owned had a garage large enough to park 4 vehicles in, but our 2 little cars never saw shelter because my tools and projects were in the way. Now I get to convert raw materials into cabinets, flooring, cedar-lined closets, a wooden fireplace, the sky is not even a limit here when you can make an airplane out of oak planks. Way cool.

What doesn’t get converted into lumber gets a meeting with Mr. Pushy. He gets a hydraulic feed from the tractor, which converts biodiesel into split logs for the fireplace.  10 gallons of biodiesel is enough to split a year’s worth of firewood.

And yes, it’s carbon neutral. All that and a bag of wood chips. Wait, did I mention we use the chipper to produce mulch of all the leftover branches and stuff for the garden/compost? Ok, now this post is getting downright long.

So. Roger got me a rifle. He asked me what would it take to get me out hunting, and in my best effort to make his job harder, I told him he had to find me a pink rifle. Well, I guess I should have put more thought into it because lo and behold, he comes home with a pink one inside of a week. Gulp. I call her Pinky.

We get to the farm, sight it in, and now it’s go time… and true to my word, I went hunting for squirrels. I thought maybe they’d all scatter at the sight of me in my husband’s blaze orange sweatshirt and metallic pink rifle. But alas, no. They were all around. I got a couple shots off with no luck (I’m gonna pull a Matt Holliday and say I lost them in the lights.) Since I surely scared them all off in the area we were in, we took off to the area by Roger’s foot plot. And there they all were, having a little squirrel-fest.

I saw one run up a tree and took aim and but he went behind the tree. But out of the corner of my eye I saw another in the tree to the right. I shifted and shot. And the squirrel fell to the ground. I shocked myself honestly. Roger took some pictures of it, including some with me holding the squirrel up by the tail, all the while I’m thinking I’m going to get fleas or rabies from it. Blech. Then Roger points out another unsuspecting furry-tailed target and I shot it too. Roger lined them up and took a picture but I won’t show it here. It’s a little gruesome, although my boys were duly impressed and there were high-fives all around upon my return. I almost felt the need to spit and scratch myself, but I quickly came to my senses and ran inside to touch up my lipstick (after I washed the rabies off my hands, of course).

Oh and later on, [J] shot 2 squirrels and saw a gaggle of turkeys. He also spotted a couple deer but only had his .22 with him and that’s not going to cut it. Roger and [J] plan to head out tomorrow to the tree stands to see if they can capitalize on the youth deer hunting weekend.

So, for your enjoyment (please wear sunglasses if you’ve got ‘em) here I am hunting. Orange isn’t really my color but I have to say I enjoyed it. Slightly.

And here’s Pinky.

Ok, first of all, doesn’t that look yummy? It was.

We got a take-n-bake pizza about a month ago from Papa Murphy’s called Mediterranean DeLite. It has chicken, feta cheese, spinach, LOTS of garlic, sun-dried tomatoes… It had thin crust (probably the only thing “Lite” about it) and Roger told me that the only thing that would make it better was if it were made on a thick crust. So that’s what we did. And I’m sharing how you make it, in case you find yourself salivating:

1 thick pizza crust (premade is fine or you can make your own)
1 T chopped garlic (not the dried stuff unless you reconstitute it)
3 T Olive Oil
2 cup Mozzarella cheese (shredded)
Baby Spinach (enough to cover the entire pizza; washed and stems removed)
1 cup chopped chicken breast (they Tyson pre-cooked works well)
1 small jar of sun dried tomatoes… about a cup or a decent sized handful
1 cup feta cheese

First spread the olive oil and chopped garlic onto the crust going almost to the edge. Use as much garlic as you want, we overdid it last time and regretted it for days. Then spread the mozzarella cheese over that. Deal out the baby spinach leaves on top placing them evenly all over the cheese layer. Next spread the chicken bits and the sun dried tomatoes over the spinach. Then top with the feta cheese. Bake 425 degrees for about 18 minutes, let stand for about 5 minutes before you slice into it.

Oh and if you figure out a way to make a “diet” version of this, please share.

We are very proud of [J] as he has finished all 5 of the Olympians books by Rick Riordan. Once he got going, there was no stopping him. And what we love most of all is that he has finally discovered the joy of reading for pleasure. Last year, and the years before, his school days were long, as they didn’t end when the bell rang. He was usually strapped with about 2+ hours of homework each night and the thought of picking up a book when that was finished was not appealing to him. We encouraged him. We bought any book that we thought he’d take even a slight interest in, but nothing helped. Now that we are homeschooling, we have a completely different schedule. We finish “school” much sooner and there is literally no homework, well all of it is homework, but you know what I mean. When we’re done, we’re done. I built in free reading time into each day but truth be told, it just happens now without me having to “assign” it. In fact, when he feels a little bogged down after a tough assignment, he takes a bit of time to himself to unwind with his favorite book. It’s such a relief to see this happen. Bookstores are among my favorite places, and to see him develop a love for reading (and bookstores) too is awesome!

So, I sat down with [J] after putting together some questions about the books. Here’s a little Q&A book review for you (hopefully not giving away too many details of the plot and characters.) Oh and we are all VERY excited about this series being made into movies. The first movie, The Lightning Thief, is due out in February 2010. I’ll link you to the trailer at the end of the interview.

Q: What did you enjoy about this book?

A: I enjoyed how it was an adventure book but was also informative about Greek mythology.

Q: Who was your favorite character? What did you appreciate about him/her?

A: Percy Jackson, the main character, is the son of Poseidon. I wish I had his lethal ballpoint pen, Riptide. If you read the book you’ll find out what that is and what it does. I appreciate how he risks his life for his friends at least 50 times per book.

Q: Did you find this book a quick read?

A: I’d have to say it was in between. I couldn’t put it down but there are like 300 pages in each book so it took a while to get through them. There was a total of 1,708 pages in the 5-book series.

Q: Are any of the events in the book relevant to your own life?

A: Percy Jackson has ADD, which I also have. He also has dyslexia and I have dysgraphia. You find out in the book that his dyslexia is really a hidden talent.

Q: What did you think of the style of the writer?

A: I loved the style of the writer.. never a dull moment. I think that he couldn’t have made it more perfect. Rick Riordan is the greatest children’s book writer ever.

Q: Would you recommend this book to friends? Why?

A: I would recommend this book to friends because it has given me a reason to read freely. Before I found out about these books, I could never get myself to sit down to read for enjoyment. Now I’m finishing 300 page books in a week. Plus it taught me all about Greek mythology. I can name half of the Greek gods from memory. My favorite god is Zeus.

Here is the trailer for The Lightning Thief… oh, also check out Rick Riordan’s website for more good stuff!

As [J] and [M] will surely tell you, all the energy we use to power our homes, cars, agriculture, you name it ultimately comes from one source… THE SUN. Energy is such a big part of our lives, and we seem to have limitless supply, so we often take it for granted.

Here at eddy&co, we try really hard not to. One way that we try to limit our impact on the energy supply we all share is to make our own biodiesel to run in my truck, as well as our tractors, generator, etc. Biodiesel has many of the same properties and uses as petroleum-based diesel, however it is far less polluting, has better lubricity (it’s slippery [M]) , and it uses a waste product in the form of waste vegetable oil to eliminate the use of fossil fuels. Way cool, and saves tons of money too.

So how do we do it?

Here’s a quick glimpse at the setup.

What we do is:

1.) Collect waste vegetable oil from local restaurants

2.) Prepare the oil

3.) Esterify the oil (fancy term for convert to biodiesel and glycerol)

4.) Separate the phases (another fancy term for layers)

5.) Wash the resulting biodiesel with water

6.) Pump it into the truck!

Here are some pictures of the different stages of the process:

Today, diesel was $2.79 at the pump. Last summer it got to almost $5. This process costs about $.65 per gallon, so not only is it better for the environment and overall energy supply, it’s good for our wallet too. [J] likes this because he thinks it means we can buy more video games. Whatever.

So how does this giant chemistry set get powered from the sun? Well, the simple answer is that the vegetable oil that got cooked with at the restaurants (mmmm… french fries) grew from plants, powered by… nuclear fission, which comes from uranium that was produced at the core of a star sometime after the big bang. I may have that a little wrong, I’m still doing some research on how plants grow, so don’t quote me on it. It might be fusion. Or chlorophyll. I know the sun has something to do with it, seriously.

If I can figure out all this plant / sun stuff, we will be saying goodbye to the restaurants and making our own oil from scratch – using Canola plants like the kind that’s in the Wesson Oil in your kitchen. Either that or the amount of chicken wings we will be able to fry will be staggering. Super Bowl party anyone?

Here’s the monster that burns the stuff:

Awesome huh? Not only can she pull a house down the road, but she gets 30 MPG highway on biodiesel. Pretty cool for a big truck (that totally rocks.)

Well, I mentioned that this is energy part 1. If you guys like this kind of stuff, I’ll post the process of taking our farm off the electrical grid and all the gizmos and cool stuff that is entailed. Converting energy from one form to another is not just a good idea, it’s the law (U know, the law of conservation of energy… I think)

Cheers,

Rog

In [M]‘s most recent FIAR (Five in a Row) book, Lentil by Robert McCloskey, patriotism is discussed. Throughout the book, American flags decorate the town as they prepare for a celebration to honor one of the town’s most important citizens, Colonel Carter.

Also in the book, the main character, Lentil, walks to school past a war memorial. [M] and I discussed what a war memorial was and who they honored. We talked about Veterans Day and the many wars our nation has been a part of and how they’ve impacted our lives.

Today, after bowling, we went to visit the O’Fallon Veterans Memorial Walk. It honors all military personnel, veterans, and American soldiers from all eras. The boys walked through the boots that symbolized the footsteps of the men and women that have and still do serve our nation. The boots at the memorial are permanently fixed to the concrete but if you step back and look at them, they are all actually in motion… as if they are marching in lines… left foot forward.

There is a single set of boots off to the side beneath a POW/MIA flag, meant to remind us of those soldiers that remain missing. There is also an eternal flame burning in the rear next to 5 large stone monuments with seals from each division of the military on them. At the base of the stone monuments is a reflection pond.

The boys just milled about and I let them explore on their own. [J] worked at positioning himself like the soldiers would be standing. He also commented that he thought the noise of the traffic passing by on Hwy 70 made things less peaceful than they should be at a memorial. I agreed. [M] loved the reflection pond. He noticed that there were 2 monuments for the Navy and asked where the Marines’ monument was. I pointed out that the Marines are a part of the Navy and that one of the monuments had “Department of the Navy” on top and had “United States Marine Corps” written below the emblem, which was also different. I was impressed that he noticed. He also noticed that the Navy emblem had an eagle holding an anchor in its talons because it’s the division of the military with the big warships. Observant. I’ll try to get there again at night time so the boys can see how it’s all lit up.