Jigsaw puzzle

We have tons to do around here, every minute should be full of important things... so why on earth did I open a box containing a gazillion-piece jigsaw puzzle?

It's spread out all over the dining table now and everyone is addicted. We're all going buggy looking at teensy pieces with teensier little people and chickens and stuff on them but we can't stop ourselves.

On quilting

Cotton pieces lovingly joined
to form not so perfect quilts
for not so perfect lives,
yet filled with love and hope
to last from generation to generation.

Ruth Christiansen ~ 8/17/51 - 9/29/03

Daddy's Home

Barry was gone for a few days, combining business and pleasure - the business being a meeting with a client (Hershey Products) and pleasure being introducing himself to his baby niece, Miss E. He is home now and safe, bearing lots of photos of a grinning baby girl and lots of chocolate.

We really missed him.

It's not that we can't get along without him. We do just fine, really. We're all busy people and we keep up with our schedules and accomplish things. We sleep OK, nobody quits eating and pines away. We're really fine.

But boy, are we glad when he comes home! The house feels different when he comes home. It's cozier, the lights are brighter, the walls friendlier, the floors warmer. The creaky, lumpy old bed he and I share is more comfortable when he's in it. He got home last night just as the kids were supposed to be getting to bed, so they had all welcomed him home last night, but this morning when they woke up and he was where he belonged, in our bed, they piled in, assorted pets, morning breath and all, for a snuggle before everybody had to get ready for work and school.

I know moms are supposed to be the heart of the home and all that, but dads are... Dads are... Oh, I don't know. Maybe the backbone of the home. We can slog along without him for awhile, but we sure are thankful when he comes back.

Making Vania Drool

Vania, this is for you.



(Well, the picture's gone, but it used to be a picture of fresh rhubarb.)

Iowa Sex Offender Registry

Up until just very recently, CriminalCheck.com offered a zip code search for sex offenders in Iowa, as well as many other states. I know this because I used it to learn that a man who has been working in ministry, working with children, in our town is listed in the registry and just never bothered to share this with anyone.

I just checked and they no longer do zip code searches in Iowa. However you can still search by zip code in Iowa at IowaSexOffender.com after you click that you agree to the terms of the website.

Garage Sale

Oh no! The school burned down!

Not really. But there was a boiler fire this morning before school, and there is a lot of smoke. The children, deeply disappointed, slogged home early to endure a spring day out of doors in the sunshine with birdies singing, rather than having fun in a windowless classroom learning stuff. Poor dears. The gloom is palpable.

It's days like these that they beg to be homeschooled.

Seeing scripture in life

"He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart." -- Psalm 91:4, New International Version.

Check out Waiter Rant.

You gotta read this.

Baby turkeys!

Here is our first little poult to hatch, Little Guy, with his surrogate mommy, Nancy. He was fighting very hard to get away from me so he could go back to his beloved mom.



And here is the second egg, still in progress. The children have already named this one Neville.

* UPDATE * Wednesday morning and Neville is fluffy and beautiful! He actually hatched into my hand last night. He had chipped away his shell all but a tiny hinge and then seemed to get stuck. His feathers were drying. I gently pulled the end of his shell off him, and there was no blood flow to it at all, so that was OK so far, and then he couldn't seem to get out of the rest of the shell, so I held him by the shell over my other palm and let him work his way out with the help of gravity. And poof, I had a turkey poult in my hand!

This morning he and his Mommy, Hepzibah, are doing great.

With two hens and two poults, these are going to be the most spoiled rotten turkeys on the planet.


* ANOTHER UPDATE * I gave in to reason and moved Neville in under Nancy, so she has both babies, and took her eggs and put them under Hepzibah, though I don't think any of them are going to hatch. Nancy looked a little surprised when she noticed that her single baby had magically turned into two babies, but she tucked them both back under her feathers and decided that she must have been mistaken. Hepzibah doesn't seem to miss Neville one bit; she was more interested in the eggs anyway. She also wasn't trying to teach Neville to eat, whereas Nancy has been coaching Little Guy on pecking at his scratch, which he needs (turkeys aren't hard-wired with that information like chickens are).

To Whomever Still Insists We Switch to Daylight Savings Time Each Spring

Fie upon you. Fie, I say.

One of my favorite Pope John Paul II anecdotes

It gets just a brief mention here, but there's a photo here. Pope John Paul II came to see Tony Melendez. He didn't ask Tony to come play for him. And afterward, the Pope hopped down off audience level, walked to stand below the stage at Tony's feet, reached up and patted Tony's knees as he thanked him and blessed him. Tony reached down for a kiss, but the image I will remember is that of the smiling old man reaching lovingly up to touch the young man's knees.

In the words of President Bush, "we're grateful to God for sending such a man."

OTWA Auctions

Remember my mentioning a new online auction house that was in the works by my friends at the Online Traders Web Alliance? Well, it's open! So far I'm impressed. It's easy to list, easy to bid, cheap on listing fees AND they don't care if you promote your offsite website. Tech support has been fast and friendly. Go have a look around.