IMO

We're going to Walt Disney World in December. I've been reading a lot of blogs and such for tips, and I'm so over parents asking what to at WDW with their babies. I say, leave them at home.

My personal opinion is that taking a baby to WDW is not worth it. I'm so glad we waited until Punky was 5 to take her. She still talks about our trip last year and I hope she always has fond memories of that first trip.

I think it would be such a hassle to take a baby, with the bottles, special food, diapers, naps, and all the stuff a baby needs. Not to mention the stroller. I hated getting run into by strollers when we were there last year. They're kind of like mini-vans, giving people this idea that somehow they're more special or entitled because they've got a kid in a stroller. Like it's a free pass to the best seat for the parades and such.

I'm not saying leave your baby home if you've got older kids. But, if your only kid or all your kids are under 5, wait a few years to take that first trip. Disney is about great family memories. Don't you want your child to remember the trip?

100 days

This is not a Disney blog, but it is a Disney blog entry! Today is only 100 days until we visit Walt Disney World for the second time as a family. On the way home, I was planning our next trip on the iPhone. I have been excited since we decided to go earlier this summer, and obsessed with planning our vacation since we booked it! I have been reading lots of Disney blogs, forums, and websites.

I love this picture because Punky's smile is so big and genuine!

From what I've read, it is difficult to get a coveted reservation at Cinderella's Royal Table. We must have been lucky last year, because we got a table without any problems. It was a must do for our first family visit with Punky. She was 5 years old and loved getting to go inside the Castle. It was a dream come true, and I got a bit misty eyed, which was not the only time during that first magical trip.

Another thing we lucked into was seeing the parade during Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party the same night as we left our dinner at the Castle. While we didn't get to do the trick or treating, the parade was great fun. We followed it down Main St. to the gates. A perfect end to a great night and lots of good memories.

I find myself singing the "Good Mornin'" song from the Magic Kingdom opening. We still talk about the little things we remember, like the "special ticket" we got on the Dumbo ride because other guests didn't load correctly. We were without an elephant when it was time to load. We used it for Splash Mountain. Punky said she hopes we get another one.

We talked to lots of Cast Members while we were there. I remember the young lady selling ice cream treats at Animal Kingdom. She spoke Armenian according to her name tag. I think she was glad to have some fellow Americans to chat with for a few minutes. Phil and I have also worked in customer service, so we understood what it's like to deal with cranky customers, like the ones she had helped just before us. We were hot and tired too, but instead of being cranky, we tried to make her day better. It wasn't her fault the ice cream fell off your kid's stick, buddy.

We had only three days last time. This time we have four and a half days. I know we can't see and do everything in that time, which is why I'm obsessed with planning this trip, to make the most of the time we have. We had an idea of what we wanted to see and do last time, but this time I want a real plan of attack.

Eventually, I would love to have a whole week at Walt Disney World. And someday, maybe I'll be a Cast Member. That's what I want to be when I grow up!

Summer Reading

I have recently been reading stories set in Scotland.

The Island Harp by Jeanne Williams (1991, St. Martin’s Press) is an historical romance. Set in the 1840s, it is the love story of Mairi MacLeod and Lewis, her ancestral island home. Mairi won’t leave the island after her township is burned by the laird’s factor. Mairi has a vision of rebuilding her family’s life. With stubbornness, determination, and pride, not to mention hard work, she manages to stay on the island.

Like the industrious women in her story, Jeanne Williams is a skillful weaver, blending real people, places, events, songs and traditions of the island with the fictional lives of the Clanna folk. The Gaelic words helped set the atmosphere of the story, as well as the descriptions of native flora, fauna, and landscape. The traditional foods played an important role, so much so that I want to make athol brose. Knitting and weaving were another prominent part of the story. I could appreciate this work being a knitter myself, albeit a hobbyist. I did not expect to learn so much about the traditional farming and fishing methods used by the people on Lewis. A good life had to literally be scraped out of the rock.

I don’t think many real young women in the mid-19th century would have made the headstrong decisions Mairi did, especially going against society and church morals. She seems more late-20th century. Overall, the story was entertaining, and kept me reading until the wee hours of the morning. Like a fairy tale, everything turns out satisfactorily for everyone in the story. I finished the book believing that Mairi and her family lived happily ever and forever. This tale of Scottish crofters is somewhat romanticized, but it does make me want to visit Lewis!

Corrag by Susan Fletcher (2010, W. W. Norton & Company) is another historical novel set in Scotland about 150 years earlier. A clergy man visits a woman who is being held in a cell, accused of being a witch and sentenced to burn at the stake. He wants to hear her account of a massacre. She agrees to tell what she witnessed, but starts with her own story, from the beginning, so that someone will remember her. At the end of her story, which unfolds over several days, the clergy man’s opinion of her has changed and so has he.

Corrag, a young English woman, flees north and west after her single mother, Cora, has a vision of her own death by hanging for witchcraft. Corrag takes her mother’s bag of herbs and an old gray mare with her. She eventually finds herself in a valley called Glencoe.

She keeps to herself at first, but she is discovered and asked to help the MacDonald clan chief, The MacIain, who has suffered a terrible head wound in a raid. Though small and child-like, Corrag is knows the ways of herbs and heals The MacIain. The MacDonalds are thankful and allow her to stay.

As time passes, Corrag breaks her promise to her mother, and falls in love with one of MacIain’s sons. He promises to keep her safe. Corrag tries to keep the MacDonalds safe by warning them of a planned attack by the English soldiers who have been staying with the clan. Not everyone lives happily ever after in this story. The Massacre at Glencoe took place on February 13, 1692. The fictional Corrag had no last name, but if she did, it would be MacDonald.

Gaelic Ghosts by Sorche Nic Leodhas (1963, Holt, Rinehart, & Winston) is a fun book I found in the children’s section of the library. The ghost stories are the kind you’d hear at a family gathering; the kind my grandpa or dad would tell.

Looking Out My Back Door

When I arrived home this evening, I heard chickadees calling. I haven't seen or heard them since this spring, when they repeatedly visited my yard. I went through the house onto the deck and heard them in my neighbor's yard. Then one perched in my elderberry. I spoke to the chickadees as I filled the bird feeders, telling them how glad I was to see them again.

Chickadees are not very common in my neighborhood because we don't have many mature trees. One of the first things I did after moving into our new house 10 years ago was plant trees and shrubs. I wanted to create wildlife habitat in suburbia. Previously, the land our neighborhood is built on was farmland. While there are some mature trees remaining from the farm, mostly at the edges of our addition, almost all the houses have just two flowering pear trees and a few shrubs installed by the builder.

I have quite a number of various trees and shrubs in the front, side and back yards. Much to my husband and neighbors ire, I don't prune them into uniform, round balls. I let them grow into their natural shape and size, which some consider wild and unkempt looking. But that is how I like it, and so does the wildlife.

After filling the bird feeders, I watered a few plants that looked wilted. Normally, I wouldn't waste precious tap water on plants in the yard, but we haven't had rain in a month and the last two weeks have been in the upper 90s. While watering near the pond I noticed a bit of movement among the plants. At first, I thought it was a preying mantis, but when I looked more closely, I saw the shiny black eye of a garter snake. The funny thing is, I was just wondering about the snake yesterday. I don't know if this was the same one that lived in our yard last year, but I said hello and told it I was glad to see it.

Besides the garter snake and the birds, we have one other critter that has taken up residence in our yard. Actually, I believe it lives under the deck, and has for some time. We just haven't seen it.

I took the lid off our metal compost bin the other day, to add some fresh kitchen scraps, and there, looking just as surprised as me, was a lovely golden brown rat. I was excited, but my husband wasn't. As long as the rat stays outside, it is welcome to live in our wildlife habitat, too.

truth

Punky and I watched Secret of the Kells this morning. The animation was brilliant and magical. The story was wonderful. What else would you expect from a nation of storytellers. I was drawn to the movie because of its artistic style and the story it tells of the wondrous Book of Kells. I remember studying illumination in high school art class.

I've had a love for all things Irish since I was a girl. As I've grown older, I've learned about the Celtic and Gaelic culture, and that it is more than just Ireland. It's been a dream of mine since I was a girl to visit Ireland, but now I would like to visit all lands where Celtic and Gaelic lived. I hope Punky and I will be able to visit someday.

In the movie, Aidan of Iona tells Brendan that he can learn much from the woods outside the abbey walls. Coincidentally, Susan Fletcher included this in her book Corrag, which I'm currently reading. It's attributed to Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153).

More things are learnt in the woods than in books. Animals, trees and rocks teach you things not to be heard elsewhere.

I've also found this version:

What I know of the divine sciences and Holy Scripture, I learned in wood and field. I have no other masters than the beeches and oaks.

Other people have made similar observations, including Aristotle, Einstein, Thoreau, Wordsworth, and Muir, for example. It is obvious to me that this true. Unfortunately, it takes some people longer to discover this truth. Some never do.

Summer Time

Remember how Summer seemed to last so long when you were a kid?

According to the calendar, Summer doesn't start until next week, but the weather says it's Summer now. We've already had a few 90+ days. We've been cooking on the fire pit and grill quite often, and are picking strawberries, black raspberries, leaf lettuce and cucumbers from the garden.

Summer Camp

Punky has been going to our park dept. day camp since school let out. She swims at the pool everyday and goes on field trips every Wednesday. This week the camp went to Squire Boone Caverns. Punky stayed home from camp today. She ran a fever yesterday and still wasn't feeling well enough this morning. I went to work this morning, but before the day really got started, ended up back at home. Luckily, I have lots of sick time to use, and was glad for the extra day at home.

I finally mowed the back yard. I pruned some bushes and used the string trimmer on the weeds. I had to get more line, so $60+ and two hours later, I came home from the store with more annuals and some perennials.

I decided to plant perennials in the bare spot left by the sand box. I moved it to another location to kill off that grass, too, so I can plant something there next summer. I moved some orange day lilies, iris and spider wort. I have lots of these plants which I got from my grandma, because she has lots of them.

I came inside during the hottest part of the day, fell asleep for about a half hour, then uploaded photos to Facebook. Most of the pictures are of Girl Scout camp last week and a few from my family day trip to Turkey Run State Park. We made plans to celebrate my grandma's 87th birthday there, at her request. But, she fell after Easter, broke her left femur and is still recovering. She wasn't able to come to the park, where we had many family gatherings in the summer when I was growing up.

My brother and his family couldn't make it, and my brother-in-law decided not to come. My parents, sister, Punky and I had a good time anyway. I really liked the little Newby Gulch shelter, unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of it. After lunch cooked in foil packets, we took a hike, which ended up lasting three hours. We cooked the rest of the food for dinner when we got back. My sister and I played a round of Yahtzee, a family favorite, after dinner. Then we all left for home. It was midnight when I got to bed.

Punky and I went to Girl Scout day camp this year. I didn't go as a girl, but was very excited to volunteer as an adult. Punky was a bit apprehensive about the bugs, and had a few crying fits, but all in all the week was fun. We rode the school bus to and from camp each day, walked every where at camp, went swimming every day, made crafts, sang songs, played games, visited the cemetery on the property, launched rockets, did skits, and climbed a rock wall. Thursday was the camp overnight and all the girls in our unit (ages 5-7) stayed the night without problems. They were recognized at the last flag pole dismissal ceremony with ribbons.

Summer Reading

Our library is within walking distance of the park where Punky attends day camp. The kids are participating in the summer reading program. I signed Punky and myself up the other day. I am trying to read books to Punky from the State of Indiana's K-2 reading list. We currently are reading Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories. By the way, Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the GSUSA, knew Kipling.

For myself, I just finished reading A Chosen Faith by John Buehrens and Forrest Church. I am not big on organized religion, but this was an interesting book. I might just check out a Unitarian Universalist Church. I also finished Nightshade by P. C. Doherty. I love the Hugh Corbett mysteries, but I can't remember which ones I've already read! I am currently reading Corrag by Susan Fletcher.

Summer Knits

I haven't been knitting much, but I think about it. My list of WIPs/UFOs is too long. I have a summer shirt on the needles for Punky that I haven't worked on since May. My dad has been reminding me that I promised to make him some kilt socks. His birthday is next week. Maybe I'll finish them for Christmas if I start them on his birthday.

It was a lovely day today, but is now muggy and overcast. The A/C is turned back on. If I get up early tomorrow, I'll plant what I didn't get to today before it gets too hot. Or, I could sleep in, like I used to when I was kid on summer break.

"I heard the cosmos sing and watched nature dance. This was religion." ~ Forrest Church

from A Chosen Faith

katydid

Even though I'm more of a dog-lover, I do like other people's cats. I recently read two books with cat themes. Both books had main characters affectionately nicknamed Katy-did by female relatives. My mom lent me both books. She could be considered a "crazy cat lady," but she does have several dogs, too.

The first book is Curiosity Thrilled the Cat by Sofie Kelly. I enjoyed reading this fun mystery about a librarian with two magical cats. The library in the story is a Carnegie library, like the one in my hometown. It's still in use as a library.

The second book is Accidentally Catty by Dakota Cassidy, part of the Accidnetally Paranormal series. This was a fun story. I liked the characters, even Nina, but I thought there was too much (unnecessary)"adult language." I would read the rest of the series if my local library has them.

Sugar & Spice

I really need to go to bed, but want to share with anyone who may come across this post a wonderful observance from tonight's Daisy Girl Scout meeting.

Snakes and Snails, and Puppy Dog Tails...

We shared the school cafeteria with a pack of Webelos. At one end of the room, the boys were quietly doing arts and crafts; making paper bag puppets for their Showmanship badge.

Sugar and Spice, and Everything Nice...

At the other, the Daisies were investigating the contents of my worm compost bin as part of their Flower Garden Journey. The girls excitedly examined, with their bare hands, the rotting kitchen scraps and newspaper, looking for worms and worm eggs. A few girls allowed the worms to wiggle on their arms and faces.

Lent

Coke, as in the soda, is what I've chosen to give up for Lent. So far, so good.

Nature

"Unlike television, nature does not steal time; it amplifies it."
~Richard Louv Last Child in the Woods

More coincidences

I had a dream Wednesday night about my grandmother's friend Ruth's funeral. I didn't attend the actual funeral a couple of years ago, but my dreaming mind created a strange one. I guess I had been thinking about that church family that protests funerals. They ran the funeral home in my dream. Young children acted as grief councilors. (Ruth and her husband ran a funeral home, and their son runs it now. I didn't even think of that connection until now.)

I visited my parents Thursday and my dad mentioned my grandmother had a broken tooth that she needed to get fixed because she had a funeral to attend this week.

I was eating lunch in the break area at work today when someone came in the office door. I was kind of irritated because my lunch had been interrupted three times already by the phone. I got up to see who was at the counter. It was my grandma and she said her Sunday school teacher, Ruth, died this week.

Three Cups of Tea

This is an amazing and inspiring story. I had seen the book and the children's editions on the shelves at Target and the library, but wasn't really interested in reading it until I began preparing for Girl Scouts World Thinking Day. The theme this year is about empowering girls to change the world. This book fits perfectly.

Almost as soon as I began reading it, I was recommending it to others. I would like to read it to my troop, but I don't know if I can fit it into one of our last 6 meetings. There is always next year.

I am going to see if my library has the next book, Stones into Schools.

Pet Adoption

I just adopted several new pets that were living in a basement storage room where Carla Kay works. I'm not sure how many really, since she used a litter scoop to dig them out of their home, which had decomposed quite a bit and was becoming unlivable.
After a quick lesson on proper care and feeding, I excitedly left for my office with my new friends snuggled into the bedding of their new home. It's filled with damp, freshly-shredded newspaper. (The shredder in the voter registration office is awesome, by the way. Thanks, gals!)
Thankfully, it's about 60 degrees and cloudy today, so I could leave my new pets in the back of my car while I was at work. Carla Kay said they are most happy between 50-80 degrees. They dry out in the sun. They like it dark and moist, just enough to keep their skin from drying out. They can't breathe when it's too wet.
It seems pretty easy to take care of them. I can't wait to feed them for the first time. They like vegetables, fruit, newspaper, egg shells, coffee grounds, and tea bags. Carla Kay said she doesn't feed them citrus, meat, fats, or dairy. Add new bedding every so often. After awhile, I'll need to change it out and remove the poop, which is a great fertilizer.
Like most animals, if they have food, shelter, and water, they'll reproduce. Carla Kay showed me what the eggs look like. She said one egg could have up to 10 babies in it!

girl power

"If you really want to change a culture, to empower women, improve basic hygiene and health care, and fight high rates of infant mortality, the answer is to educate girls."

Greg Mortenson from Three Cups of Tea

The Tower, The Zoo and The Tortoise

Inspired by my friend, Amy, who is aspiring to read 100 books this year, I've decided to try it also. I'm already a month behind, but today being an icy start to February seemed like as good a day as any to begin. I'd picked up book at the library this weekend, but only after finishing it, did I decide to do this project.

I began reading The Tower, The Zoo & The Tortoise by Julia Stuart last night at about 9 pm. I stopped reading at 2 am only because I thought I had bettered get some sleep, in case I did end up going to work this morning. After seeing that Punky's school was closed today due to the ice storm, I resumed reading at 8 am. Between fixing buckwheat pancakes for breakfast, assisting with a homework assignment and melting plastic pellets into a horse-shaped sun catcher, I kept reading. I finished after lunch this afternoon.

The book is a light, quick read that was throughly entertaining. I laughed and cried, but I'm a sap who got teary at an episode of Hannah Montana last night. It's full of interesting English trivia nicely woven throughout several intertwined story lines. Everything wraps up well. As the dust cover says, it is a "refreshingly delectable novel that you simply won't want to put down."

You go girls!

Part one

Thursday nights are dance class. Punky and I usually eat out before class and our choice last night was Subway. It was only the second time we've eaten at this particular location, but the same woman was working behind the counter. She didn't have very good customer service skills the first time, and she didn't this time either. She was not pleasant, and practically yelled at each customer, "What'll ya have!"

As we sat eating our food, I made the comment to Punky that the woman was rude and her customer service was terrible. A woman ordered a salad and said she wanted cucumbers but needed them to be cut.
"How do you mean, cut?" said the worker in a nasty tone.

"So they don't get stuck in my braces," said the customer.

After the woman got her order, she asked to talk to the manager. She was very civil and didn't raise her voice, so I couldn't hear what she said. But, they were both laughing when she was done.

Anyway, as soon as the customer asked for the manager, nasty worker lady became so friendly and pleasant. I hope the manager spoke to his employee about customer service, but whether or not, we won't be going back to that location if she's on duty.

Part two

There are two moms, sometimes three, who gab the entire 45 minutes of dance class, usually talking about their many kids and their pregnancies. Every week, as the music gets louder, so do they. It is one of the main reasons I dread going to dance class.

Sometimes, the girls get noisy, and the teacher will stop class to remind them to be quiet, but she never says anything to these moms. There is a sign asking observers to be quiet, but these moms must think it is for the someone other than themselves. That, or they can't read.

The third mom was not there last night because she recently had a baby, and the other two were catching up on the baby news, and whatever other stuff their multiple children had done in the two weeks since they'd last seen each other. (Last week's class was cancelled due to snow.)

The girls were having a hard time concentrating and were a bit noisy, so the teacher was talking to them about being respectful of each other by being quiet when it is not your turn. Then, out of nowhere, one of the moms actually asked those two to go outside the classroom if they really needed to catch up so badly.

One of the moms said she didn't realize their conversation was distracting the rest of us from watching our children, to which another mom said it was very irritating. Ha! I'm glad that I'm not the only one who gets annoyed by these moms!

I'm also glad that these two women had enough courage to speak up. You go girls!