Truck Troubles

I Thessalonians 5:18:  "In everything, give thanks, for this is the will of Christ Jesus...."

1.  We're thankful that only the "Drive" gear went out 22 miles from home and we still had "1 and 2" left to drive back.

2.  Thankful that when 1 and 2 gave out, it was in walking distance to the house.

3.  Thankful for Hannah's and Andy's strong legs to carry them up the hill and around 1 "S" curve to the house.

              3.A.  Thankful that I was not alone with the girls when it gave out!

              3.B.  Thankful that the weather was pleasant when it gave out!

              3.C.  Thankful that we were on a straightaway when it stopped going forward.

4.  Thankful that, although its gonna' cost a whole stinkin' lotta' money to fix my truck, we have the means to get it done.

5.  Thankful that we were safe on that long, long drive home, and that the transmission didn't actually fall OUT of  the truck, even though pieces of the transmission fell INTO the truck.

6.  Thankful that we live in such a beautiful area and got to drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway on the way home!

7.  Thankful that the transmission place was able to send a tow truck and include the cost in their bill.

8.  Thankful that they were able to get my truck first thing on Monday morning and get right to work on it!

9.  Thankful that the girls and I enjoy being "homebodies" and, to us, there is really no such thing as "being stuck at home."

10.  Thankful that Andy saw this may have been a roundabout answer to another prayer we had about another venture we were going to pursue.

Coincidentally (yeah, right), our history lesson today was about the Greek mathematician Archimedes.  He's the one who first used ropes and pulleys, which provided a better way of lifting.  It was a great tie-in to the use of a winch to drag my heavy car up the back of the tow truck.  It made history come to life ~ exciting!  So there's a reason #11!




All aboard....

Hey, look at those pretty flowers!

 

Going.....

Going............

Gone!

Do U See Math?

Did I mention that we had changed our math curriculum?
Based on outstanding reviews from friends, we switched to Math U See this year.  It has three components: a DVD lesson, a teacher's guide and a student workbook.  Oh, there's the manipulatives, too - base 10 blocks I guess you could call them - interlocking from the bottoms and used heavily in the lessons.
The program is geared toward various learning styles, and we've really enjoyed it so far....Han is in the second book, "Beta," and will finish that book (30 lessons) by the end of next week.  We'll move into the "Gamma" book directly afterward.  It is largely self-paced - and that is the point.  They want to ensure that each concept is nailed and learned solidly before the next one is introduced.  Much of the "Beta" work is review from our program of last year, which is another reason she's flying through it.
I haven't mentioned that a Very Good Friend shared her teacher's manuals and DVD's with us.  What a money-saver....almost $200 worth!  Wow.  She even shipped them out here from Oklahoma!  OK!  Thank you Lesly!
But wait, there's MORE!
In order to begin the program we had to order the student workbooks.  We needed the Primer (for A) and the Beta for H (we skipped the Alpha, the basic math facts).  We also needed the manipulative blocks.
So I went to the Math U See website and placed the order.  Rats.  They were out of the blocks, pictured here.  "Temporarily Out of Stock" the note said.  Nonetheless, we wanted to get started right away so I placed my order for the books.
The next day I went back to the website to check and see if the blocks were available....they were!  Now, to try and stop my order from shipping, I contacted the customer service "help chat" and told the Nice Lady my story.
This Very Helpful Person said she would try and stop my order before it left the warehouse so that the blocks could be added to the box to save me a second round of shipping costs (almost $12!).  I told her that if it couldn't be done, I understood, as I probably should have waited to place my order.  She said she'd get back to me the next day.
Alas, my order shipped separately as I was informed by email.  No big deal.  After all, the Instruction Manuals and DVDs were Free To Me so it was a pretty good deal to begin with.  We were still in our school budget for the program.  And as it turned out, shipping was much quicker than the 5 days suggested on the website.

(((time passes)))

A couple weeks later Andy asked me if I expecting a rebate check from Math U See.
"No, lemme see it!"
After a lively discussion of "its mine,"
"NO its MINE" etc.
ensured, I emerged victorious and was able to see the amount.
THIS NICE COMPANY refunded the cost of shipping my second package!  Without even being asked!  And loooong after the whole incident was pushed far from my mind.  Really?  They did that for US?
So, not only am I impressed with the quality of their teaching, but the company itself is devoted to its customers as well.
The money refunded will be turned around again next week and used to purchase the next book in the series, but isn't that a great story?  They really did the right thing.  And now, I'm going to try and reciprocate by passing along my experience to you!

I shouldn't have even looked!

Has it really been since May since I posted last?  I'm sorry!  But here is something blog-worthy to break the long dry spell.  Its typical for me.

I drink day old coffee.  Yes, yes, some will say its so gauche, or gross or what have you, but I don't mind ~ I usually mix it with new coffee to heat it back up so I can drink it right away. 

Ever have that niggling feeling that, "I should...." but then ignore it? 
Don't ignore it.

Last night I poured the last of yesterday's coffee into a coffee cup and left it on the stove, refilled the stove top percolator and set it on the burner and went to bed.

This morning I turned on the burner, perked the coffee and, when it was finished, topped it off with the fresh coffee.

I just finished drinking it and, reaching the bottom, felt something against my lip.

It wasn't coffee grounds.

It was an EARWIG!!

GROSS, GROSS, GROSS!! 

Someone I know who reads this will be ESPECIALLY GROSSED out. 

Don't remember what an earwig looks like?

My Crow Wave

We've got a new addition to our household - it was given to us, or otherwise we  would still be in the minority of American households without one.  Its been over 4 years since we've had one of these machines, and I haven't really missed it.  In fact, I've enjoyed smugly saying, "we don't have a microwave..." and watching the reaction.  My friend Lora said, "how do you LIIIIIIIIIVE?!"  My mom just shakes her head.

As it turns out, it was donated at an opportune time - I've burnt up three saucepans beyond serviceable use in the past four months and I'd begun to dig into our camping supplies for stove top cooking appliances.  I haven't planned ahead enough to stockpile saucepans, so my cooking resources were limited to the crock pot, cast iron skillet and toaster. 

Although my dad informs me that an electric stove uses more energy than a microwave, heating up milk for bedtime drinks and cooking macaroni and cheese on the range top wasn't too much of an inconvenience.  I timed it, of course, and it only takes about 25% more time to heat things up on the stove top than in the mike, but then there is the extra pot to wash.  Stove top cooking lends itself to a bit of patience, too, in that it is a wholly interactive experience.  Witness my failure to "interact" with the cooking process by the blackened bottoms of my cookware....

Without a microwave, we're excluded from a surprising amount of convenience foods at Wal-Mart - foods that are high in fat, calories and added salt, low in fiber, freshness and health.  I use my teapot more to heat water for hot tea, hot chocolate and cream of wheat.  The whistle is satisfying and familiar.  But with a microwave comes ease in steaming vegetables, microwave popcorn and fewer dishes to wash.....(because you know if we didn't have a microwave oven, we certainly don't have a dishwasher!)

There was no real reason for not having a microwave oven in the first place.  We had one at our former house and used it regularly for defrosting and reheating.  I've never been one to cook a roast or a chicken in them.  When we moved here, we just never got around to getting one because there didn't seem to be a place for the bulky, cumbersome machines that we thought we needed.  This one is small - it probably is not too much taller than a soda can inside. 

The girls are, for some reason, pretty excited about it.  It doesn't have a rotating glass inside or anything, but they are fascinated that it can cook without really getting "hot."  I've explained "hot spots" and "uneven heating," and hopefully it will be an easy lesson for them.

Anyways, I just thought I'd share with you why I'm not looking so smug these days....

Ice Breaker

Do you remember this scenario from grade school?:

"Now we are going to go around the circle and say our names with a word that describes us, a word that begins with the first letter of our name.  I'll start:  "Hello, I'm 'Clever Catherine'....now you....."

The above was usually smarmily voiced by a fun-loving Sunday School or Youth Group leader who most surely had only the best intentions in mind and was supernaturally able to ignore the eye-rolling and nervous seat-shifting that went on around the group. 

I HATE that game.  Or icebreaker.  Whatever.  I DESPISE it so much that to this day when I take a class, a workshop or attend a reunion, I quake inwardly that the leader will attempt to pull that nonsense. 

WhyeveronEarth? you wonder.

Well, think about it.  How many adjectives come to your mind that are begin with the letter "H"?

Hot
Hysterical
Honest
Hungry*
Heavy*
Homesick
Homely
Helpful
Horrible
Humble

(*maybe if I weren't so daggone hungry I wouldn't be so daggone heavy...but I digress)

Ya think I'm gonna' let any of those rip in a room full of my peers?  "Helpful Heidi"?  I'd be someone's slave for months.  That's just begging for trouble.

And WHAT common adjective, pray tell, is omitted from that list?

That would be the adjective that I selected, by default, Each And Every Time the bottle spun my way attention of the room was shifted my way, that being:

HAPPY.

And the worst of it is, that I can't help it that I smile so much so that when I did say (shudder) "HAPPY HEIDI" that everyone - snarky eighth graders included - would practice their eye rolling skills some more and nod their heads because it just made so much sense; certainly that girl who smiles all the time is always happy. 

Indeed, however, I am NOT always happy.  Not now and certainly not then as a snarky kid, but more often:

Hateful
Horrendous
Humiliated
Hurried
Humourless
Humdrum
Hotheaded
Horrible
Homicidal (I actually WISH I had thought of that in 8th grade...)

What triggered this diatribe?  Like most other things in my life these days, it was the dreaded "Mommy Guilt."  You see, almost 6 years ago I had the clever idea to give my eldest daughter a name that begins with the same initial as does mine.  And as I was ironing one of her dresses I had a terrible shock that she will face that same humiliation that was mine all those years ago. 

I can see it now: 
"now, little girl, its your turn...."
"Hello, I'm hard-core Hannah!"
 
I'm going to have to buy her a thesaurus.

Password Protection and a FREE GIFT!

I'm taking a minute out of my busy, busy week to jump on and let you know about something that happened to a good friend of mine: Her PayPal account was HACKED! And since her bank account is linked to her PayPal account, thieves also gained access (temporarily, at least) to her bank account! Yikes! And although she had it quickly straightened out and didn't lose any money out of pocket, it was still unsettling, time-consuming, disruptive, disturbing - and (insert synonym here)!

You're thinking, as was I, that PayPal is CERTAINLY safe....and it IS! In fact, I have a PayPal account, also connected to my bank account, and I intend to keep them BOTH. You should too. BUT what you SHOULD do, is QUIT USING THE SAME PASSWORD ON ALL OF YOUR ACCOUNTS! INCLUDING E-MAIL! Wait....ESPECIALLY E-MAIL!

I'm sorry to have to shout like that, because, as you know, I try to keep this blog friendly and upbeat - garden, butterflies, kids - but I have a feeling that - -

CHANGE YOUR PASSWORDS TODAY!!

- - - whoops - - - there's that yelling thing again - - -

I have a feeling that, if you're like me, you get complacent and might gloss over things, so yelling will get your attention. (Unless, of course, you're in the under-6 set and your last name is Morris and you don't listen to anything I say, much less yelling, then this is not for you.)

So, back to my pal's - that is, my Friend's - story: After she noticed that her bank account was missing over $300, she found that there had been two PayPal draws on the account - neither of which was made by her or her husband. So she called PayPal (no doubt in a panic) and was told that while PayPal is nigh unto impossible to hack, E-MAIL is extremely easy. (If you're a hacker, that is....).

As an aside - she also said that the PayPal rep she spoke with was very soothing and professional and provided every assurance that PayPal is indeed secure, AND that when she hung up the phone, she was no longer in panic mode but had a clear set of steps to follow thanks to PayPal. )(Kudos to PP.....)

Now, back to our story: Most of us have web-based e-mail, right? Like yahoo.com or gmail.com or (fill in web-based email here). Well, it seems that those accounts are easy to hack. And shoot, blogger dot com is probably easy to hack, too, so beware of any posts that don't seem to be from me after this - who knows who I might anger? These types of websites do not have the layers of protection as does, say, a financial institution or PayPal.

Back to our story:
The Bad Guy(s) hacked her email account password and muttered (because bad guys mutter, you know?):
"I bet this chick uses the same password for all her accounts.....and.....(tap, tap, tap)....hah!...there it is......good.....now for her PayPal......this is too easy.....let's go shopping for electronics......(whistle)......bonus, it's attached to her bank account, so....(tap, tap, tap).......cool........and now to shop for a new cell phone....."
and so on and so forth.

Now, what are you going to do after reading this post? Shake your head sagely and say, "she's lyin' again...."? Fix a bread-and-butter-sandwich? Pickle those watermelon rinds you've been saving? Send me a FrontierVille gift?

NO! YOU ARE GOING TO CHANGE YOUR PASSWORDS!

And here is what you are going to remember as you change them:
1. They should all be different. Yes, this is a pain, but you must do this.
2. They should be unique. This means NO birthdays, no last 4 digits of anything, no street addresses, nothing. Make it up. C'mon, you can do it.
3. It should contain letters and numbers and characters - at least a combination of the two. We're going for protection, here, you know.
4. Write them down.* Do it!

(*Do you want me to make a password notebook for you as an incentive to change them? Seriously. Because I want to Do My Part to keep the web safe and fun. For the first ten folks who comment below, I will make you a sweet little password notebook and get it to you by first class mail or otherwise as a special free gift for reading this blog. No, I don't have a picture of what it looks like, so it will be a surprise. To both of us.)

Don't put it off!

GO DO IT NOW!