Booking Through Thursday: Manual Labor Redux

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The Booking Through Thursday question for today is:

Following up last week’s question about reading writing/grammar guides, this week, we’re expanding the question….

Scenario: You’ve just bought some complicated gadget home . . . do you read the accompanying documentation? Or not?

Do you ever read manuals?

How-to books?

Self-help guides?

Anything at all?

I used to dutifully read every word of the manual that came with anything before doing anything else. But after awhile you get the first part of those things pretty well memorized (the safety issues, etc.), and finding just what you need to know often takes more time than just picking up the item and trying it. For most electrical appliances I’ll just skim over the manual for anything pertinent. For anything technological, I ask my sons. 🙂 If they or my husband weren’t here, I’d probably read the manual, or at least skim through it. I am just as likely these days to search the Internet: often you can find the exact answer to your exact question without having to search through pages of technical jargon.

When we were home schooling several years ago, I heard this kind of example used to discover what kind of learner you and your child are. Someone who would read the manual first would be a visual learner; someone who would want someone to show and tell him how to operate the device would be an auditory learner; someone who just started pushing buttons to figure them out would be a kinetic or tactile learner. My oldest academically oriented son was a visual learner, and he still teaches himself multitudes of things by reading. My middle son was a kinetic learner, and though to me it seemed easier to learn, say, measurements from the book, he “got it” much better (and enjoyed it more) by getting out measuring cups and pouring two 1/2 cups into 1 cup and 2 cups into a pint, etc. As for me — I think I am a combination with visual being primary. I learn different things better through different venues.

I do read self-help books, though, especially in the area of crafts and Christian living.

Quiz time!

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I saw this one at Grams:


You Know Your States


You got 8/10 correct.

You’ve got a pretty good handle on US geography.

There’s a good chance you’ve visited at least a dozen of the fifty states.

Geography isn’t my best subject, so I was glad i did that well! Like Grams, I’d love to know which ones I missed. I just stopped to calculate a little: I have lived in three states: SC, TX, and GA. I’ve visited ID, CA, AL, TN, FL, NV, UT, SD, LA, MS, and NC. Besides those, I have traveled through the states between SC and ID, but I don’t remember what route we took. We drove there I think once in our married lives and flew every time since. I’m most familiar with the Southeast, a little less with the Northwest, and pretty unfamiliar with the Northeast and Midwest.

I saw this one at Alice’s:


You Are 57% Creative


You are a quite creative person. You’re always involved in at least on interesting project.

Keep it up and keep learning. Your creativity may bring you great things someday.

I would have thought I would have scored a little higher on that one. Probably questions about breaking the rules (in creative projects, sometimes; in life in general, not so much) and taking life seriously and being reserved seem less “creative” to some.

And I saw this one at Alice‘s as well:


You Are Classical Music


You are a somewhat serious person who enjoys studying subjects deeply.

Art of all kinds interests you, and a good piece of art can really effect you emotionally.

You are inspired by human achievement, and you appreciate work that takes years to accomplish.

For you, the finer things in life are not about snobbery – they’re about quality.

Alice, we scored the same here! I think this was pretty accurate for me.

A pleasant Mother’s Day

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My family does a lot to make Mother’s Day special for me. I don’t remember when Jim started this, but for the last several years he has made a special Mother’s Day meal, assigning each of the boys a task. Yesterday he grilled Marinated Ham Steak (recipe at the end an overly long post there) and sausage, and set one boy to making Rice-a-Roni, one to making a salad, and one making corn on the cob. Jim shops for the ingredients on Saturday and they all work together to clean up after the meal on Sunday. It’s wonderful. Years ago I heard our then youth pastor say that in his family they took turns washing dishes for his mom on Mother’s Day, and I thought…I am glad I am in the family I am in! (For more reasons than that, of course!). Getting the dishes washed once a year is ok, but I enjoy having the whole day off. And though I enjoy a nice meal out probably more than anyone else in the family, the restaurants here are overly crowded on Sundays anyway — I can just imagine what they’re like on Mother’s Day (in fact, when we got done eating, Jim said, “I bet the folks at Outback are still in line.”) For years we have generally avoided going out to eat on Sundays anyway, but that’s a different post. I enjoy coming home to curl up with a book or putter around on the computer that one Sunday a year.

I do make breakfast as usual. Our Sunday mornings are pretty well scheduled — we just have one shower and have to get ready in shifts, so it seemed prudent to just keep that as it was.

After dinner I opened my family’s gifts. I received several books, a book of vintage-looking scrapbooking paper, a punch tool that makes a lacy edge on paper, a gift card to Michael’s, a plaque with John 13:35 on it, another plaque about Moms (which matches the plaque that son’s girlfriend gave me here about being a second Mom), and a Deluxe Scrabble game (this one happens to have black and silver features and lettering). What I like best about it is that the board is on a turntable so no player has to look at the board upside down. I love word games but can hardly ever get my family to play with me. But four of us played last night, and it was fun. And hopefully they’ll play with me again some time. 🙂

Church yesterday morning didn’t really focus much on Mother’s Day, which was unusual, but at the evening service opportunity was given for every mom who wanted to to request a verse or two of a favorite song. Though that was nice, it went on for a long time! They didn’t want to cut off anyone’s opportunity. Then there were a few testimonies having something to do with mothers, and it was interesting the variety that came up — there was one from a young mom whose baby has had complications since before birth praising God for the way He has manifested Himself through her baby’s life so far, a teen-ager thanking God for his mother’s help and support through a recent diabetes diagnosis, another thankful for his mom’s support through a family trial, a husband thankful for his wife and the good job she did with their daughters while he was often gone with his job, an older man who was thankful for the single lady who led him to the Lord and the opportunity he had in later years to lead his parents to Him. It was a blessing to hear all of those.

The last couple of Mother’s Days have had something of a pang with missing my mom. Usually in the evening after church I would call her and we’d chat – -seldom for less than an hour. There were a few moments of missing her intensely, but it wasn’t quite as hard as the last two years — maybe due to the passage of time, maybe because the time I usually talked to her was the time we were all playing my new game. We did talk to my husband’s mom later in the evening.

I have several tasks on the agenda for this week, so I had better get to them. But I want to thank my family for the lovely day and all the special and thoughtful things you did!

Mother’s Kisses

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They’re good for bumps and good for lumps
They’re even good for dumps and grumps,
They’re good for stings of bumblebees
And barks from shinnying cherry trees.
For splinters, sunburns, “skeeter-bites,”
For injured feelings after fights,
And scratches, scratched while Tabby hisses —
Mother’s kisses.

There’s naught so pure, there’s naught so sure,
Indeed, they seem a heavenly cure,
For pounded fingers, and stubbed toes,
And all the long, long list of woes.
Yet did you ever think it queer
That while they’re fine for every fear
They’re just as fine with all the blisses —
Mother’s kisses.

~ Annie Badcomb Wheeler

A few other poems for Mother’s Day are here.

My tribute to my mom, written last year, is here. This is one of those days I most miss her.

Happy Mother’s Day!

(Graphic from Anne’s Place)

Mother’s Day Funnies

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WHAT MOMS REALLY WANT FOR MOTHER’S DAY

* To be able to eat a whole candy bar (alone) and drink a soda without any “floaties” (ie, backwash).
* Five pounds of chocolate that won’t add twenty pounds to her figure.
* A shower without a child peeking through the curtain with a “Hi Ya Mom!” just as she puts a razor to her ankle.
* For her teenager to announce, “Hey, Mom! I got a full scholarship and a job all in the same day!”
* A grocery store that doesn’t have candy/gum/cheap toys displayed at the checkout line.
* To have a family meal without a discussion about bodily secretions.
*To occasionally get to sleep late on the weekend.
*To take a hot bath without her toddler suddenly screaming, “Mommy, I have to go potty!” as soon as she hits the water.

Laws of Parenting:

1. The later you stay up, the earlier your child will wake up the next morning.
2. For a child to become clean, something else must become dirty.
3. Toys multiply to fill any space available.
4. The longer it takes you to make a meal, the less your child will like it.
5. If the shoe fits… it’s expensive.
6. The surest way to get something done is to tell a child not to do it.
7. The gooier the food, the more likely it is to end up on the carpet.
8. Backing the car out of the driveway causes your child to have to go to the bathroom.

MURPHY’S LAWS FOR PARENTS

1. The tennis shoes you must replace today will go on sale next week.
2. Leakproof thermoses will.
3. The chances of a piece of bread falling with the grape jelly side down is directly proportional to the cost of the carpet.
4. The garbage truck will be two doors past your house when the argument over whose day it is to take out the trash ends.
5. The shirt your child must wear today will be the only one that needs to be washed or mended.
6. Gym clothes left at school in lockers mildew at a faster rate than other clothing.
7. The item your child lost, and must have for school within the next ten seconds, will be found in the last place you look.
8. Sick children recover miraculously when the pediatrician enters the treatment room.
9. Refrigerated items, used daily, will gravitate toward the back of the refrigerator.
10. Your chances of being seen by someone you know dramatically increase if you drive your child to school in your robe and curlers.

(Authors Unknown)

The Mother at Home

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When my older children were little, a book making the rounds among young mothers at church was The Mother at Home by John S. C. Abbott. It was originally published in 1833. Some of the principles discussed in that book were foundational to my parenting.

For instance, he instructs mothers (and this would go for teachers as well) to punish for disobedience, not the results of disobedience. He writes:

Never give a command which you do not intend shall be obeyed. There is no more effectual way of teaching a child disobedience, than by giving commands which you have no intention of enforcing. A child is thus habituated to disregard its mother; and in a short time the habit become so strong, and the child’s contempt for the mother so confirmed, that entreaties and threats are alike unheeded.

“Mary, let that book alone,” says a mother to her little daughter, who is trying to pull the Bible from the table . Mary stops for a moment, then takes hold of the book again. Pretty soon the mother looks up and sees that Mary is still playing with the Bible. “Did you not hear me tell you to let that book alone?” she exclaims. “Why don’t you obey?”

Mary takes away her hand for a moment, but is soon again at her forbidden amusement. By and by, down comes the Bible upon the floor. Up jumps the mother, and hastily giving the child a passionate blow, exclaims, “There then, obey me next time.” The child screams, and the mother picks up the Bible, saying, “I wonder why my children do not obey me better.”

…Is it strange that a child, thus managed, should be disobedient? No. She is actually led on by her mother to insubordination; she is actually taught to pay no heed to her directions. Even the improper punishment which sometimes follows transgression, is not inflicted on account of her disobedience, but for the accidental consequences…. Had the Bible not fallen, the disobedience of the child would have passed unpunished. Let it be an immutable principle in family government, that your word is law.

He describes a better way to handle the situation, then comments, “I know that some mothers say that they have not time to pay so much attention to their children. But the fact is, that not one-third of the time is required to take care of an orderly family, which is necessary to take care of a disorderly one.”

There are many other good principles here, among them: “Never punish when a child has not intentionally done wrong.” “Allowances must be made for ignorance.” “Guard against too much severity.” “Every effort should be made to make the home the most desirable place.” You might not agree with every point (I disagree with his suggestion to have the child ask forgiveness a second time), but overall it is a very helpful and thought-provoking book. I wish I had read it about once a year.

Show and Tell Friday

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Kelli at There’s No Place Like Home hosts “Show and Tell Friday” asking “Do you have a something special to share with us? It could be a trinket from grade school, a piece of jewelry, an antique find. Your show and tell can be old or new. Use your imagination and dig through those old boxes in your closet if you have to! Feel free to share pictures and if there’s a story behind your special something, that’s even better! If you would like to join in, all you have to do is post your “Show and Tell” on your blog, copy the post link, come over here and add it to Mr. Linky. Guidelines are here.

I’ve been eying several things in the Cottage Accents line at Michael’s. When I found out they were discontinuing the line and had marked it all half-price, I snagged these:

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Our family room is basic tans and beiges, and I wanted to bring in those colors as well as some blues in accessories, so these fit the bill.

My middle son’s girlfriend often came over on Saturday and Sunday afternoon and evenings from college, and since school was out, she traveled back to her home state for the next several weeks til they meet up again at the camp they will be working at this summer. We have enjoyed getting to know her this year. I am so glad they have done most of their dating at home. Before she left she gave us these and a sweet note thanking us for letting her come over and do laundry and spend time away from school here.

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And this was an early Mother’s Day present from her to me:

CIMG1798

Awwww!

Thanks and an opportunity

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Thanks to those who left encouraging words and/or prayed about my cold and the baby shower I mentioned the other day. The shower went very well, I think. Once I got started the nervousness fell away. The hour beforehand I made about twenty trips to the bathroom, though. 🙂 My cold was still there, and I took a cup of water, tissues, and a cough drop up with me “just in case,” but thankfully they weren’t needed. The Lord took care of all the other physical concerns and gave me time to think through and write out what I wanted to say the day before. I was very glad they had my part first! I was able to relax and enjoy the rest of it afterward.

I guess it might seem silly getting so nervous over a 5-10 minute devotional when some people face much greater challenges. But to me, that was a pretty big challenge!

My cold is still there but today is the first day I can say I actually feel better. I’ve been wiped out and draggy for a few days, but today is much better, though my throat is still a little sore.

The redness and swelling in my leg is still a factor as well, though it is also better. When I am at the computer or on my feet for a long time, it is worse: when I have my feet up for a while, it is better. I hope this isn’t the schedule for the rest of my life! It makes it kind of hard to get things done. I do enjoy those breaks throughout the day, but I’ve been needing to do some things in another town 35-40 minutes or so away that I don’t think I’d better try while this is going on.

I wanted to tell you about a giveaway at Blogged In Network. This is an outgrowth and development of the Family Friendly Network. They’re having a BloggedIn Bounty giveaway at the end of March — and the prize is a $100 Target gift card! Click on the button for more details. The contest is open to non-bloggers as well.

Now I am going to put my feet up again….

Booking Through Thursday: Manual labor

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The Booking Through Thursday question for today is:

  • Writing guides, grammar books, punctuation how-tos . . . do you read them? Not read them? How many writing books, grammar books, dictionaries–if any–do you have in your library?

These days I only read that kind of thing if I need to look up something in particular. Harbrace College Handbook from English Comp. 101 and 102 over 25 years ago was my go-to book for grammar and usage for ages. Though I still have it on the shelf along with an ancient dictionary, Roget’s Thesaurus, and a few other related books, I most often look things up on the computer these days. Dictionary.com has both dictionary and thesaurus functions. I can usually find answers to grammar and usage questions just by googling.

In fact, I have been needing to clear out some books (no room for any more bookshelves!) and I’ve been thinking of getting rid of a lot of that kind of thing both since my copies are old and since I am more likely to use online versions. I don’t know if I could give up Harbrace, though — he’s been an old friend.

I’b gotda hed code

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Translation: I’ve got a head cold.

Which wouldn’t be too big of a deal…

Except that one of the out-of-my -comfort-zone opportunities I alluded to the other day is giving the devotional at a baby shower. Tomorrow night!

So I am going to lay low and rest today in hopes that the worst will be over by then and I won’t be hacking and dripping (and contaminating everyone in the same air pocket) while trying to say something helpful.

I did learn, after TM, that resting seems to be the best way to fight off these things. Right at first, any kind of illness or infection exacerbated the TM symptoms and wiped out my already-low stamina, and about all I could do was rest. But I discovered I got over colds a lot more quickly than when I felt I had to push myself to soldier through as I used to. Sometimes you just have to do that, but I’ve noticed that people who do that routinely seem to have lingering effects for a long time. I can’t take decongestants due to a propensity for SVTs. So, rest it is.

I was hoping to have some rare hours alone today to work out what I was going to say at the shower, but that seems to have fallen through. I’ve had several ideas running through my head, though — I just need to get them down in hopefully coherent fashion. And probably trim them. I tend to be wordy anyway, and after 23 years of being a mom, I could probably run on and on, but I’m sure that wouldn’t be beneficial.

Not that I am an expert on being a mom. One of my first reactions when asked to do this was to become acutely aware of my faults and my children’s. But…if God only used perfect people…nothing would ever get done. So I am trusting this opportunity is from Him and that He will enable it to be a blessing.

My initial reaction when asked to do this was…fear. I am much more comfortable writing, where there is more time to reflect, rewrite, delete — and no one is looking at you. 🙂  When I see that panic-stricken look on ladies’ faces when I ask them to share a testimony or give a devotional or serve on a panel at a ladies’ meeting, I encourage them that it’s a friendly audience, that no one is going to throw tomatoes, that people there want to hear what they have to say. I don’t always say this, but, as I said here, sometimes God wants to lure us out of our comfort zones (just ask Moses) to use us in some way and to demonstrate His power and ability and enabling. So…I figured I had better practice what I preach.

It seems like every effort at serving the Lord, though, is met with obstacles. Whether that’s “just the way life is” or whether it is the enemy’s efforts or further character-building from the Lord, I don’t know. I just know things always tend to come up at those times and usually at some point in the process I tell myself I am never doing this again. I have learned in other venues, like the ladies’ luncheons, to just know that that’s part of it and take it in stride. Or try to.

Meanwhile, I am reposting my “Ode to a Summer Cold” written and posted last June. It’s not summer yet…but it’s close enough.

To the tune of “Do Your Ears Hang Low?”

Oh, my nose, it runs
At most inconvenient times
Leaving overflowing trash cans
Filled with tissues full of slime.
It’s become a drip-o-matic.
My condition still is static!
Oh, my nose, it runs.

Oh, my head is filled
With such pressures in my sinus
And such fogginess of brain.
And my energy is minus.
Who’d have thought a simple head cold
Could cause scheduling to implode?
I’m ready for a nap.