Informed Consent

I always intended to write about the books I read, so today I'll make my intention a reality. Informed Consent by Sandra Glahn was a featured freebie on Amazon, and liking the description of a Christian medical story I sent it to my kindle reader. This week I read it.

The downside to reading the classics is that it spoils you for modern literature. Jane Austen and Charles Dickens have way with words and a vocabulary for expressing thought that are hard to rival. Somehow you know things and picture scenes, but by inference. Avoiding the boring format of telling each part in just the order it happenetd,hn the reader is engaged and called upon to do their own thinking. Modern writers tend to spoon feed all the thoughts and conclusions.

That being said, I found Informed Consent to be rather well written, allowing me to get engrossed in the story line. While not a lengthy book, Glahn manages to develop her characters and explore some sticky ethical and social issues. Some readers may not enjoy the medical jargon, but the targeted audience will lap it up. Taking some unexpected turns, the climax had me staying up late at night. All in all I'm glad I read this ebook, and as it is not preachy, I'd recommend the story. If you read it. I'd love to know what you think.

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If God Opens the Door

"Oh, Abby, do you know what Dad said? When God opens a door, no one can close it!"

Beth and Abby were discussing their hopes for a trip to Monterrey to see the latest object of their affections, and wondering how much hope they have of making dreams come true.

Recalling yesterday's sermon, she went on, "And when God closes a door, uh-oh, (a pause) no one can open it." Her voice had lost some of its animation by this point. There followed a discussion about prying doors open and similar thoughts which was rather amusing to hear while I chopped veggies for lunch.

My heart was most warmed to know that my young teen does pay attention to what her Dad says to the church, and is smart enough to see how it applies to their own lives. 

"Well, if God opens the door, then nobody can keep us from going to Monterrey!!" happily concluded Abby.

A Battle to Fight

Pulling myself away from my sewing machine, I come to write a few thoughts on current events, especially in light of my current G. A. Henty book, Jack Archer, a story from the Crimean War. From the Drudge Report I found the following article, which must be filling the greater portion of American news this weekend:

Obama to Seek Congressional Vote on Syria Strike

Today I offer a few of my favorite tips and remedies that we use in our home regularly. In no particular order, here

• For stomach pain, such as gastritis: oatmeal water and ginger
• I boil 1/4 c oats in a quart or so of water, sweeten it with molasses or honey, sugar or stevia, and drink in lieu of water.
• My favorite way to take the ginger is to boil a few thin slices in several cups of water--with the oats as above, or to drink in tea. Chamomile with anise and ginger soothes the pain, and adding ginger to lemongrass tea seems to energize.

• To stop a cold from developing or reduce the time to recover: hydrogen peroxide drops in the ears
• A google search will bring up the reasons why this method works, but I can tell you that everyone I've used it with, from babies to adults, has had positive results. For the best outcome, use it at the first sign of a cold. Allow a few drops to sit in your ear for up to 10 minutes, but if the bubbling is too much, dump it out onto a tissue and add new drops. You will feel the liquid cold and you may feel dizzy, but when you drain it out, it will have warmed and the dizziness will be gone immediately.

• Make dish-washing faster and easier by adding a teaspoon of baking soda to your soapy water. The soda is a great grease buster, and I use it with a drop of detergent and a brush to pre-wash.
• Forgot the stove and burnt your food? Quick add some washing soda and water, let it soak, and it should be fairly easy to clean your pot.
• For shiny stainless steel cookware, cook up some spaghetti sauce or tomato sauce in your pan.
• My favorite spice/herb has to be basil. If that's all you use to season pork or beef, it'll taste great. Add it to soups to round out the flavor.
• For disinfecting veggies and even dishrags, add a few teaspoons to water, about 1t per qt.
• Best parenting book I've found so far: Kevin Leman, How to Make Your Children Mind Without Losing Yours, or the shorter read, How to Have a New Kid by Friday
• Best marriage book? Love and Respect by Emerson Eggerichs, or the shorter read (for wives), How to Have a New Husband by Friday, by Kevin Leman (same ideas in both books)

What's your favorite tip? Your contribution may help someone stop banging their head over some job! Share the wealth in the comments below.

Time-line Box From Scraps

Keeping a time-line helps students to acquire a better grasp on history. Recently I came across the idea of recording events and discoveries, people and places onto index cards. Instead of purchasing boxes with flimsy lids, I made my own out of some plywood scraps we got from the carpenter, covering them with contact paper someone gave me.

 Taped to the lid is a key to show the girls how to set up the card, plus the color code for dates from science, fine arts, Bible history and their own family history. They can add photos or drawings or more information on the reverse side.

I made the little dividers to segregate ancient history, medieval to early renaissance, late renaissance to early modern, and modern history.

My intent and hope is that the girls will decorate these boxes, and maybe even make prettier cards (or at least personalized...hmmmm...). At least the photo doesn't show the imperfections of my design, and I think the boxes are quite sturdy and will last as long as we need them to.

Do you have a photo to share of some little problem you solved out of scraps?

A Few Thoughts From History

Of late I've been reading through some history books written by G. A. Henty, and while his target audience was teenage boys, I find them informative and entertaining. The lastest titles I've read are from the 17th and 18th century, a time of great bloodshed as Europe struggled for control of trade, land and power. By looking at history mostly through the eyes of a young man on the scene, I get a better feel for the events, culture, geography, and prominant historical figures. The old refrain that history repeats itself is proven true, and I also see how some struggles have roots many hundreds of years back.

Thank you, Ms. Alcott

While spending another week mostly in bed recovering from oral surgery, I distracted myself from the intense pain by listening to all 18 hours and 45 minutes of the audiobook, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. Why had I never read this book?! I don't think any young woman should graduate from childhood without it's wonderful influence on their heart and mind. Unlike Elsie Dinsmore, the four girls in this satisfyingly long volume are true to life, with squabbles and foibles that reminded me much of the three little women under my care. Even good little Beth can be imagined to have been a real girl (especially considering they had no TV to compete with their parents' loving and wise direction).

One of my favorite parts of the story is the scene of boisterous Jo having a deep talk with her mother about getting to know God in her own relationship. I was inspired by the concluding statement about this young teenage girl, "...she had drawn nearer to the Friend who always welcomes every child with a love stronger than that of any father, tenderer than that of any mother." Surely this ought to be the goal of my parenting! May I learn to love and guide my daughters to know this Friend well and to find their identity in His love for them.

Perhaps you'd be inspired as well as entertained by revisiting this classic novel this year. Audiobooks are a wonderful way to spend commutes, choretime, or crafting hours. I just hope you won't need them to distract you from pain as I did this week!

Do you have a favorite scene or quote from Little Women?

Putting my Quirks to Work

Bear with me, folks, there may be something that interests you by the time you get to the end. At the very least, you may be thanking God that you're not like Rose!

For some time now, I've made up chore charts to get the girls to do more towards keeping the house in decent shape. Each time I would post a new chart, it worked for up to two weeks, sometimes less. A lot less. The last time I tried to tie it to allowance payout, but I was always guessing how much they'd actually earned. It was difficult to get the youngest to do her chores because she didn't read and she was immature and unmotivated. But I think I may have hit upon something this time...

Order out of Chaos

The Research Library

On a hot October afternoon, we purchased boards, nails, screws and brackets to build another simple bookcase.  I can't tell you how much this means to me, but I can say how much it cost: 12 dollars, or in local currency, 190 pesos. 

6:20pm and my husband and I set to work--after I donned  attention-grabbing work-clothes. (Well, I didn't want to risk him leaving for tomorrow what I was dying to have done today!)  Now, we're not carpenters by a long shot, but I love figuring out the measurements, and he loves to drive nails and drill holes. This is the twelfth shelf project we've done on our own, and this time we only had two little mistakes and no crooked shelves, so experience is paying off. Maybe one of these days we'll be good enough to make a little money off our effort.

Getting Lost

     Some people get lost in the country, in the woods, or in downtown Dallas. I get lost in reference books. Opening a dictionary or thesaurus is a risky venture when time is at a premium. All those words to discover! I never heard of osculum, but it sure resembles oculus, which was on a recent Latin vocabulary list. Did you ever learn the word ostinato? Apparently, students of music may have. Ah, and food lovers may recognize ostracod, which is seed shrimp. Now here's a word Rebeca and I encountered in the encyclopedia while researching the Visigoths: Ostrogoth. For what it's worth, the basic monetary unit of Mauritania is called the ouguiya. See how interesting the book is?

A Personality Test

On the recommendation of my brother, Tom Askey, I went to the website below and took the personality test. I am very pleased with the results and find the analysis to be highly accurate, especially considering the free quiz had under 100 yes or no questions. I certainly encourage others to try this valuable tool to learn more about themselves. Read all about me below!  http://www.humanmetrics.com/index.htm#intro