Another good weekend

If only they’d last, ja?

Last night was another evening of fun at the farm. Two new goats were born on Wednesday, and the Thriller and I took the Js to see them. Of course, Farmers Bob and Kay were great hosts and let the boys not only feed, but actually choose the names for the new babies. How cool is that, really. :-)

Dinnertime for Gizmo

Dinnertime for Gizmo

Jake thought of the name “Mina” for the girl, and they chose “Gizmo” for the boy (with Grandpa Thriller’s input). We had a laugh because all of the Thistlefink animals have Slovenian names. “Mina” was good (how did a 5-year-old come up with that all by himself?), but “Gizmo?” Kay had to think about that one for a minute, haha. But it seemed to fit the little guy, so I think it stuck. Fun times.

They ran with goats and chickens, checked the hen house for eggs with Bob, ate homemade raspberry sorbet, chugged ice-cold goat’s milk like it was their job, came home and played cars & trucks, took a bath, stayed up too late, then crashed. It was a fantastic evening.

Today is filled with traveling and chores and errands, not the least of which is buying groceries, as Mother Hubbard’s cupboard is close to bare nekkid, save the greens and eggs we picked up at the farm last night. Tomorrow is the band concert, then back to work.

Have I mentioned I have 14 days of school left? I don’t think so. Countin’ ’em up, fiends.

Happy Saturnday!

Yes indeedy.

Finkday at last.

The Js tonight, Mr. A. sometime this weekend, lovely band concert on Sunday…going to be a relaxing weekend, I hope. Well, until the ubiquitous rhythm section part-writing sessions — but let’s not think about that now.

Rushing about this morning makes for late getting out the door. Dare I say I care not ? :-)

Have a great day, y’all — do something fun tonight!

PS — Has anyone tried Path?

It’s May

…and every teacher knows what that means. No, I’m not talking about how it’s the final full month of school before summer. Of course not. :twisted: I’m talking about May being Field Trip Month.

Everyone and their teacher goes on field trips during May. Even the Fink and her 185 choir students are in on the act (although it’s just for an hour, and the field trip is coming to us in the form of a concert by the awesome a cappella group from Tiffin University, Up in the Air). It makes for hit-or-miss rehearsals sometimes, I’ll admit. Over the next two weeks alone, my students are out for various field trips, to wit:

  • SADD trip to somewhere, I forget
  • Nat’l Honor Society members out for a community service day
  • Physics class field trip to Cedar Point (the 8th grade goes on this day as well)
  • A dozen college visits by a dozen seniors
  • FFA state convention
  • Bunch of juniors out all day tomorrow to decorate for prom
  • NHS members out all morning to serve the senior citizens’ breakfast held at the high school

But hey, it’s good. It’s a sign of the times, for sure; a sign that the 24th (the students’ last day) is fast approaching. Trouble is, so are my three performances, all of which require the presence of teenage voices to rehearse. Still, like I tell myself a lot lately: it’ll all happen and probably be nice, and no one will have a fit, and it’ll be over with for another year and hello, month of June.

I do hate the “May funnel,” though. Everything’s swirling down tight, just before the final swan song. Hurry up already, would ya?

Fa la la. :-)

Wednesday Nostalgia

You know that when a song starts out with the lyric, Well I had just got out from the county prison, doin’ 90 days for non-support — it’s blues. Fo sho. But it’s blues with a sly grin, done best by the immortal Jim Croce.

I’ll never forget the afternoon I came home from school on one sunny, warm 1974 spring day, and found that I’d left my Croce album lying on a shelf near the window sill, out of its cover. The sun had warped it beyond repair. I was devastated, haha.

Anyway, here’s an awesome memory for some of us, remastered from his BBC appearance with his sidekick and fabulous guitarist, Maury Muehleisen. So tragic they were both killed in that plane crash. Ugh, life can be horribly cruel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLKhUnl_yhc

Halfway to the end of the week — that’s some good news for your Wednesday. It’s May Day!

It works.

I’m not one to proselytize, or say live like I live! But I’m here to tell you, fiends, life has changed around here, and for the better, all because of one major detour.

On the 5th of this month, the Thriller had his blood pressure taken, and it was high. Most of you already know that. That evening, we went through the refrigerator, freezer and pantry, and got rid of everything that contained boatloads of white sugar, white flour, insane levels of sodium, and anything prepackaged and preserved with chemicals. In other words, everything we considered unhelpful to our health was removed.

The cupboard was pretty much bare. It was a considerable gut punch. We were faced with a choice: Do we continue to live like this and roll the dice on our health, or do we undertake a massive paradigm shift?

Well, we have now been living this new lifestyle (including my being 99% gluten-free) for 24 days, and let me tell you something: it works. Behold the ongoing results…

  1. The Thriller’s dry, cracked hands and arms are clearing up.
  2. We’re both sleeping better.
  3. Our digestive problems have disappeared. Acid reflux=gone.
  4. I no longer feel wasted every morning, dragging it out of bed with a bad attitude.
  5. My propensity for nailbiting when stressed or nervous is completely gone. (In fact, I’m honked about having to trim them in order to play guitar on my high school concert on the 20th.)
  6. I’ve discovered the awesomeness of coconut oil. I made some salmon patties for dinner last night, breaded with crushed-up gluten-free crackers, and fried in organic coconut oil. Beyond fantastic.
  7. And most importantly — my cravings for sugar have all but disappeared. Although I am an official sugar addict (trust me, this is a real affliction), I can feel good about remaining abstinent, and that’s something that’s never happened to me, ever.

The 8-lb. weight loss thus far? I’m looking at that as a nice side effect, and not the major goal. The Thriller hasn’t weighed himself, but I can tell a difference, and so can he, in the way his clothes fit.

So there’s my sermon for this morning. Get the chemicals (and believe it, white sugar and flour are made up of little else) out of your body and start loving yourself more. We thought living largely organic was going to be a huge drain on our finances. Granted, while organic foods are more expensive, we’ve noticed that over the last three grocery buys, we’re saving lots by not buying canned goods, ice cream, cookies, donuts, and boxes full of fake dinners. Instead, I’m getting excited about being creative in the kitchen again.

Time was, I dreaded the idea of coming home after a long day and cooking dinner. There was a considerable stretch when I didn’t cook at all, and we both just fended for ourselves. No longer. We have to decide what’s important in life — not only for ourselves, but for our kids (and grandkids).

OK, pulpit closed for the day — unless you want to evangelize in the comments. :-)