Quiet

Nathanael was sick today- on Co-op Day! When he slept most of yesterday afternoon and wouldn't eat dinner, I was suspicious but still hopeful. It puts a stress on the rest of the co-op when one mom doesn't show up, so I didn't want to miss unless we really had to. This morning, Nathanael woke up all droopy-looking and curled up into a ball in the living room instead of running around the house with his brothers. Bad sign. I called it in.

I showed up at the church building where we have co-op long enough to drop the older kids off and give my class assignments to the other moms while Nathanael stayed in the car, wrapped in his blanket. And not five minutes after we arrived back home, he threw up. Good call!

So he curled up in my lap with his Winnie-the-Pooh blanket and I rocked him. At five years old, I doubt he'll let me rock him for too much longer. Eventually he wanted to watch cartoons, and he fell asleep in front of Lilo and Stitch. And I had the house all to myself.

I can barely remember the days when I had the house all to myself. They were sweet days, when I had babies that took long naps, days when I made playdates with other moms to socialize and swap stories of diaper blowouts and potty training woes. A long time ago.

So here I was today, with the thing I most often fantasize about: a quiet house. Just me and one sleeping boy. What to do with this unexpected opportunity? Catch up on grading math? Finish the painting project I began the Christmas before last? Fold laundry? Scrapbook? Read? Clean house? So many choices. And do you know what I did?

I took a nap.

WFMW: The Sock Solution

Socks- the bane of my winter existence. Beginning in the fall, with the reappearance of tennis shoes and finally ending in that glorious day when we can buy new sandals at Walmart, socks in my house are a never-ending problem. With five children and two adults in our household, we wear approximately 98 socks a week- and that's assuming only pair a day! I find socks everywhere- under the couch, under the beds, stuffed behind the toilet in the bathroom, even abandoned in the back yard. I have resorted to becoming the sock sheriff, hunting down the hapless owners of these socks with a gusto that would make Sherlock Holmes proud. But wadded socks still appear under my couch. What's a mom to do?

Start Over.

My husband told me this for years. Being an engineer, he tends to prefer things well-ordered. Unfortunately, with five children, there is very little around him that is well-ordered... except his sock drawer. The house could be falling down around our ears, but he could lay hands on a matching pair of socks within 2 seconds. Here's his method: all socks look alike. He does not have tan socks, blue socks, brown socks, and designer striped socks. My well-ordered sock-man has black socks to wear with his dress pants and one style of white athletic socks to wear with his tennis shoes. And he can always find a match.

For years, he told me to do this to the kids, to throw out their old socks and give them one style. I just couldn't do it. The thrifty side of me could not bear the thought of throwing out perfectly good socks and spending money on new ones. I loved the little red socks with the airplanes on them, and the pink and purple striped socks that matched my daughter's hair bow. Instead, I had big Matching Parties every laundry cycle, where I would spread socks all over the living room and see which ones had mates that had finally turned up again. But one day... I had enough!

I went through the entire house and gathered every loose sock I could find. I matched them and sorted them into little baggies for the next yard sale and consignment sale- and surprisingly, made a nice little sum on socks alone! And then I started over. I went to Walmart and purchased different socks for each child- plain white for John Mark, white with gray heels for Philip, white with blue heels for Nathanael, white with pink heels for Becca, and so on. Over the years, I simplified my method even more: if you have kids who wear the same sock size, let them share socks! Just buy more of them. Girls can wear boys socks too- with shoes on, you can't tell if the heels are pink or gray.

Some of you fashionistas are shaking your head in horror at the thought of getting rid of dozens of cute socks. If your children wear perfectly matched socks with each of their perfectly matched outfits every day... well, you probably stopped reading before now. But here are the benefits of the one-sock method:

1) you can always find a mate

2) have a sock with a hole, or one that turned brown after the last Boy Scout campout? Throw it away- you have lots of others.

We have one large sock basket that I throw these socks into, and the sock basket is no longer a nightmare. The kids can easily lay hands on a matching pair of socks in their size. I have plain dress socks for them too, so they have black socks to wear to church.

And there it is... the sock solution. It works for me!

For more Works For Me Wednesdays, go to Rocks in My Dryer

Monday, Monday...

Monday, Monday... John is gone again, another week in Texas, with bronchitis to boot! Poor guy. This time there was mild protest from the kids throughout the day: "Why is dad leaving again? He just got back!" and "Why does he have to work there when he has a job here?" It's been a few years since he's had to travel this much, and they don't remember- and this is just the beginning. Sigh.

February- and the Frenzy that goes with it- is just within reach. February and April are my two most dreaded months of the year because they are just so BUSY! So far my calendar includes:

Two February birthdays (Becca and Philip)

An overnight choir trip

4-H Communications Day Competition (for the three oldest kids -lots of prep work involved for these projects)

Winterfest in Gatlinburg (church youth group- glad I don't have to go on this one- yet!)

Engineering Day at the local college (more projects here)

Ladies Bible Study begins a new semester

Plus all the regularly scheduled events we do (co-op, AWANAs, 4-H, piano, choir, CARE group...); the stuff that hasn't even made it to the calendar yet (like the Game Night at church this Saturday and Valentines Day); and if it snows this year, it will certainly happen right in the middle of it all.

By themselves, each of these events is great, but combined, they make me want to run and hide! I know- I'm a whiney baby. But it's my blog and I can whine if I want to.

On the upside, 24 is tonight. See Nancy's plot predictions here. And with John in Texas, I can watch chick flicks every night if I please! Last week it was Pride and Prejudice. This week... maybe Sweet Home Alabama, Steel Magnolias, or While You Were Sleeping. Any other recommendations?

Thursday Thirteen #2

The Thirteen Favorite TV Shows of My Childhood (which clearly date me, I know):

1. Emergency! (brought a whole new excitement to passing a fire engine on the road)
2. CHiPs (all pre-teen girls had a preference: Ponch or Jon?)
3. Shazam! and
4. Isis (when Marvel and DC comics still ruled Saturday mornings... )
5. Wonder Woman (Really... what girl in her right mind would not want to run around town in go-go boots and a headband? Too cool...)
6. Mork n' Mindy (My weary mother once asked, When are you going to stop saying "Na noo, Na noo"??)
7. Charlie's Angels (who was Charlie, anyway?)
8. Fantasy Island (da plane! da plane!)
9. Diff'rent Strokes ("Whatchoo talkin' 'bout?" did not go over very well in our house)
10. The Bionic Man- and Bionic Woman too, in the name of egalitarianism (If only *I* could make that really cool sound when I ran down the road...)
11. Little House on the Prairie
12. The Love Boat (to be Vicki on the Love Boat or Mary on Little House... an impossible choice!)
13. The Incredible Hulk (made me afraid to go into my back yard after dark for a solid two years...)

If you are ever tempted to reminisce about "the good old days" in TV... go back and watch some of these reruns. Some (most?) of these shows were awful! Maybe the "good old days" of TV was in the 60's?

WFMW: Easiest Bacon Ever!

I know this tip is in direct opposition to the healthy eating WFMW tip of two weeks ago... now you know why my scale goes up and down, up and down....

Anyhow, next time you're cooking bacon for a bunch, make it in the oven! Spread the slices on a baking sheet and cook at 350 for 15-20 minutes. The bacon will cook evenly, look nice when done, and leave you free to do other things instead of getting splattered by grease on the stove.

The Quest

I love a good thriller. My dad was the first person to introduce me to the genre when he gave me my first Nancy Drew book in the 3rd grade, The Secret of the Old Clock. It was my first "big book" and I was daunted by the number of chapters. So I cheated: after reading the first few chapters, I skipped over the middle of the book all the way to the end. When I reported to my dad that I had finished the book, he asked suspiciously, "You already read the whole thing?" "No," I sheepishly admitted. He ordered me to go back and read all the chapters -in order- and I was forever hooked. I could not get enough of Nancy Drew. After my parents divorced later that year, sometimes we would come home at the end of the day and I would find a new mystery lying on the front porch, a comforting reminder that my dad still thought about me.

When I was in high school, my dad was the person who introduced me to Alistair Maclean, and in college, he gave me his copy of The Hunt For Red October by Tom Clancy. Our shared love of a good thriller formed a single thread which spanned the physical and emotional gulf that existed between us.

As an adult, I continued to enjoy each of Tom Clancy's books as they were released. My dad and I rarely saw each other any longer, with years passing between each meeting. But during one visit, he handed me a book called A Time to Kill by a brand new author named John Grisham. It was quite a find, and it was only a matter of time before the rest of the country discovered Grisham too.

I began looking for other thrill masters, and I read through all of Robert Ludlum's books (Ludlum's Bourne trilogy is the genre at its best, and as usual, the movies are nowhere near as good as the books). I tried other popular authors: Clive Cussler, Stuart Woods, Dan Brown, David Baldacci, Vince Flynn, Nelson DeMille. I discovered that you can tell a lot about an author by the way the characters in his book behave: I gave Clive Cussler two chances before I decided that his hero, Dirk Pitt, was a womanizing jerk and Stuart Woods' protagonists weren't much better. David Baldacci has some winners (Absolute Power was made into a movie starring Gene Hackman) and some losers (The Hour Game ends like a run-of-the-mill horror story). Vince Flynn's hero, Mitch Rapp, is the literary version of 24's Jack Bauer, but at times, I just feel like telling these guys enough already!

And that brings me to where I am today. I find myself dissatisfied with the current crop of thrillers in the book store. Writers seem to write with a movie contract in mind, and a screen play is a sorry substitute for the multiple layers of plot and character one finds in a first-rate thriller. Maybe, after reading Austen, Bronte and Dickens, I'll never get the same satisfaction I used to receive after reading pop fiction. But I am reluctant to abandon the search.

It seems ironic too, that the relationship between my dad and I has deteriorated to the point where there is no longer any communication at all between the two of us. I suppose the burden of too many years of false hopes and unmet expectations finally snapped the thread that once provided a tenuous bridge over the tumultuous waters of our relationship. I am on my own.

Rants and Rambles

So John is out of town this week and I am left with sick kids- boo! I think Becca is finally on the mend after spending the last few days in bed, and although Philip and Nathanael both have a cough, it could be a lot worse. I'm counting my blessings!
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The kids are very disappointed that we did not get the snow that was promised this weekend- just more rain. Sigh. In the meantime, we watch the news reports of snow in Texas and California... what is up with this??
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I am sooo thankful that the Colts won! John has been yelling at the TV screen for the last few weeks. The end is now in sight, his team is going to the Superbowl, and soon I won't have to compete with football to watch Battlestar Galactica and 24!
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Do you know that Toys R Us will now refuse any returns without a dated receipt, and even then, it has to be within a certain time frame? One more reason to shop online.
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Tagged by Lisa:

Five Things You Don't Know About Me
Wow.... after you've written a 100 Things list, this is really hard!

1. I love feel-good sports movies
2. When I was 12, I either wanted to be a Jedi-Knight or Princess Diana
3. I am absolutely clueless about almost all of the top-40 pop artists
4. I have a very unhealthy fixation with the Lobster Fondue at Red Lobster
5. In 4th grade, I won the only athletic award I've ever received- for the High Jump! Only because they handed out pink 4th place ribbons.

Tagging: Janice, Summer, Leslie, Sara and anyone else who wants to play! (If you play, leave a comment so I can visit you!)

Thursday Thirteen #1

Thirteen Reasons I Like Living in the South:

1. The scent of honeysuckle on a summer breeze
2. Fried chicken, fried okra, fried catfish, corn fritters, hoe cakes, grits...
3. The beverage of choice is Iced Tea- sweetened, of course!
4. Southern Hospitality
5. When someone asks you, "How ya' doing today, honey?" they really mean it.
6. We name our high schools and highways after Southern heroes such as Robert E. Lee, Martin Luther King Jr, and Elvis
7. If you don't go to heaven it's your own fault, 'cause there's a church on every corner
8. Patriotism is still in style
9. SEC Football
10. The tiniest bit of snow is worthy of canceling school to celebrate
11. Graceland (ok, not really...)
12. Dogwoods in April
13. Being "Politically Correct" means saying "yes, ma'am" and "no, sir"

WFMW: Children's Chore Training

I learned this tip from an older Titus 2 mom, and although it seems kind of obvious, it's made a big difference in how I divide up chores in our home:

When you have a task to be assigned, always ask the youngest capable child to do it.

Our older children almost always end up with the lion's share of the work, which is not only unfair- if their younger siblings are capable of doing it- but it also robs the little ones of the opportunity to learn new skills and contribute to the family in a very important way.

Carnival of Beauty: The Beauty of Bread

The Carnival of Beauty this week is celebrating The Beauty of Bread. First off, for the sake of full disclosure, you should know that I am not a chef of any sort. But I do love bread, so I figure that still qualifies me to participate in this carnival :-). So here is my contribution this week: Beer Bread! My family loves it! I don't make it all that often because I am a spur-of-the-moment cook, which means that I usually have to use whatever I have on hand... and beer isn't one of the things that I normally find on my shopping list. It's not a particularly beautiful bread... but it is really good! And it's low-fat, with just 0.9 g of fat per serving, and easy to make to boot! I found it in one of my favorite low-fat cookbooks, A Trim and Terrific Louisiana Kitchen. Enjoy!

No-Guilt Beer Bread

3 C self-rising flour
1/2 C sugar
1 (12 ounce) can light beer (room temperature)
2 T light margarine, melted

Combine all ingredients, mixing until just moistened. Pour batter into a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan coated with no-stick cooking spray and dusted with flour. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve warm.

On Pepper and Prayer

Pepper, our cat, is very pushy. I suppose she has to be, living in our house. Otherwise there is a very real possibility that, like the houseplants, she would simply not get fed and wither away until there was no hope left. (Needless to say, we no longer have houseplants... when Philip needed one for his science project this week, I had to go buy him one at Walmart!) But we do not have to worry about Pepper withering away. She shows up promptly every morning as soon as she hears someone stirring, and begins:

Meow. Meow-meow-meow. Give me food now! NOW-Meow-NOW!

Her persistence pays off and eventually someone feeds her. As I open the Rubbermaid box that holds her food, she is so anxious to eat that she sticks her head in first, thereby impeding the progress of food to bowl. To increase the challenge, she then runs to her bowl and hovers right over it to remind me that that's where the food should go. I tell her, "Move, cat!" but she does not move, and sometimes the food ends up scattered around her bowl because she impeded a clean food drop. "Dumb cat," I think to myself.

But as I reflected on my demanding feline, I wondered if I do the same thing when I pray. I beg and plead with Him to respond to my needs and my wants... and then I promptly get in the way. Like he needs help or something. And I wonder if my "help" is sometimes responsible for the delay in an answered prayer, if my life would be so much more peaceful if I could simply learn, like David, to wait before the Lord.

"... pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests..." Eph 6:18

"I wait for you, O LORD; you will answer, O Lord my God." Ps 38:15

Saving the Yellow Pages

This year, I am trying a new tactic in my ongoing attempts to save the telephone book. Each December, we receive a beautiful shiny new phone book, and by January, the cover is half gone. By March, the first several pages are missing, and it's all down hill from there. The Yellow Pages receive no respect around here: not from my husband, who leaves it on the floor by his chair to be trampled; not from small children who use it as a shield during light saber battles; not from older children, who use it as a foot rest during piano practice; not from its official place of refuge, a smallish sort of drawer next to the refrigerator which eats phone books. But this year, I've devised a plan to foil all phone book abusers: I've laminated my beautiful brand-spankin' new phone book. It might last till March.

Blog Play Part II

By George, I think she's got it!

Well, what do you think? I've always admired Susie's blogs at Bluebird Blogs, and finally I had some time to sit down and *see* if I could possibly redo my blog design on my own. And... I am pleased with the results! My blog does not have the polish that Susie's do, and I suppose no website designer in their right mind would ever do what I did... I sold my html soul and switched to Blogger-Beta. It's easier in some ways and much more difficult in others. What you gain in ease is lost in flexibility. Fortunately, people who seem to know what they're doing have been so kind as to publish lots of tips and tutorials.

I also switched to a new template, Minima Lefty Stretch, and added a right sidebar. This template is unike any of the others that I've seen because it uses percentages instead of pixels for the wrappers, just to confuse me further. And to top it all off, I downloaded a trial version of Adobe Photoshop Elements and have been wading through that learning curve as well. So if you notice problems with the new design, now you know why!

This is still a work in progress, since I'm fumbling my way through blog-designdom here. If you notice anything that strikes you as exceptionally weird or "off" or "I don't think it's supposed to look like that", would you please tell me? I know things look different with different screen sizes and browsers. I sure would appreciate the help! And in the meantime, welcome to my new blog! I hope you like it as much as I do!

Blog Play

I'm "fixing" my blog and clearly, I don't know what I'm doing... if it looks weird, just bear with me... I'm getting there!

Works For Me Wednesday: A Healthy Recipe

Need some new healthy recipes to help you stay on goal this year? Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer is having a special "healthy eating" edition today! My contribution is a whole, entire cookbook! Eating for Life by Bill Phillips is the most used cookbook I've ever owned! It's tied to the Body for Life program, which means that the recipes are a balance of proteins and carbs. I like the recipes for several reasons (besides that they're healthy):

The recipes are laid out as meals, so that if you follow the recipe as written in the book, you'll be ready to sit down to supper!

The recipes use off-the-shelf items, such as marinara sauce in a jar, to cut down on prep time

The recipes are not only easy, they're good! This has become my most-used cookbook because we like the recipes enough to use them even when we're not focused on eating healthy!

This book is beautiful- full glossy pages of color photography. Well worth the price!

There are entire sections on dinner, lunches, snacks and -hang on to your celery sticks- Desserts! And they're really good!

So enough talking. Here's one of my favorite Dessert recipes from Eating For Life. No, you probably won't serve this one at the next potluck, but it's perfect for the next time the kids bring home bags of candy from some well-meaning Sunday school teacher and you find yourself drooling over Tootsie Rolls. I know it has cottage cheese in it; don't kid yourself- this is good!

Berry Parfait

Serves 2, prep time 10 minutes

1/2 C strawberries, fresh or frozen thawed and drained

1/2 C blueberries, fresh or frozen, thawed and drained

2 packets sugar substitute (Splenda or Equal)

1 C low-fat cottage cheese

6 oz light, fat-free vanilla yogurt

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp almond extract

1. Place strawberries in small bowl and sprinkle with a packet of sugar substitute

2. Place blueberries in second small bowl and sprinkle with a packet of sugar substitute

3. In a medium bowl, combine cottage cheese, vanilla yogurt, vanilla and almond extract, mix well

4. Layer blueberries, then yogurt mixture and strawberries into two tall glasses. Serve and enjoy!

National Delurking Week!

Go ahead... make my day!

Please?

(You don't have to say anything profound... just "Hi" would be great!)
And thanks for stopping by!

Winter Comfort

This delicious soup recipe came from my friend Jackie, who can recreate a recipe out of thin air. It has become one of my family's absolute favorites! If you like the Zuppa Tuscana soup at Olive Garden, you'll love this, and trust me- this is better! My personal opinion is that the red pepper does it (be generous with it!), but let's not analyze this culinary wonder too closely- just enjoy it!

Being the I-don't-wanna-cook-tonight kind of cook that I am, I take lots of shortcuts, like using frozen chopped onion and refrigerated garlic, ... things that probably make you cooking purists drop your jaw in culinary horror. But whatever works, right? And since they apparently don't sell cannellini beans anywhere in my entire city, I use Great Northern beans instead. I have to double this for my clan so we can be assured of leftovers, and you'll want leftovers too, so make plenty! And without further ado, here is...

Better-than-Olive-Garden Soup

otherwise known by its much more boring title:

Sausage and Kale Soup

1 lb mild Italian Sausage

1 large onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 T olive oil

1 large bunch kale with center ribs removed

1 can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

2 lbs unpeeled small potatoes, washed and sliced

2 qts chicken broth

salt to taste

red pepper flakes

pinch of dried thyme flakes

1 C cream

Crumble and brown sausage until no longer pink, then drain. Set sausage aside. In a large soup pot, fry onions in olive oil until translucent. Add garlic and cook briefly. Add chicken broth, beans and sausage to pot and simmer for about 30 minutes. Cut kale into medium shred and add with potatoes. Add thyme, salt and red pepper (I am generous with the red pepper- our family likes a little "kick") Simmer for another 30 minutes and add the cream just before serving. (Do not boil after you add the cream or it will curdle.)

Enjoy!

My 2006 Book List

It's been a great year for reading! In 2006, I managed to complete 40 books, and I still have some unfinished that have not yet made the list. The reading highlights of the year were Jane Austen's novels, especially Pride and Prejudice (a long-time favorite) and Persusasion; some great historical fiction (Imperium by Robert Harris and Jeff Shaara's books); compelling biographies (The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom, Night by Elie Wiesel, Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington) and a fascinating venture into WWII through a variety of non-fiction, historical fiction and reference. Disappointingly, I discovered that I don't care for "Christian fiction", though I know many other people enjoy it.

So, now I'm on the lookout for gems for 2007. What favorites would you recommend for 2007?


Here's the 2006 recap, (using a modified Susie scale):

Non-Fiction = 8
General Literature = 8
Historical Fiction = 6
Biography= 5
Christian Fiction= 4
Mystery/Thriller = 3
Marriage & Family= 3
Reference = 2
Humor = 1

* = one of my favorites
I rated the books by how much I enjoyed them- not necessarily their literary merit; 10 is highest

*Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (10)

A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts by Andrew Chaikin (6)

*Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (9)

Teacher Man by Frank McCourt (7)

Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington (7)

Emma by Jane Austen (5)

*Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (9)

*Persuasion by Jane Austen (9)

A Light in the Window by Jan Karon (4)

True Honor by Dee Henderson (4)

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (4)

Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community and War by Nathaniel Philbrick (5)

Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson (7)

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen (6)

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (8)

*Flyboys: A True Story of Courage by James Bradley (10)

Flight of the Avenger: George Bush at War by Joe Hyams (4)

*Flags of Our Fathers by James Bradley (10)

The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw (5)

'Twas the Night Before by Jerry Jenkins (2)

*The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom (10)

Night by Elie Wiesel (8)

A Tramp Finds a Home by Corrie Ten Boom (5)

The Assassins by Oliver North (3)

Distinguished Children's Literature: The Newbery and Caldecott Winners by Claudette Comfort (6)

The Good Fight: How World War II Was Won by Stephen Ambrose (5)

Anne Frank in the World by The Anne Frank House (5)

Code Name: Grand Guignol by Ib Melchior (4)

The Haigerloch Project by Ib Melchior (4)

*Imperium: A Novel of Ancient Rome by Robert Harris (9)

Becoming One by Joe Beam (8)

For Women Only by Shaunti Feldhahn (8)

The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands by Dr. Laura Schlessinger (5)

Shining Through by Susan Isaacs (6)

The Gates of Rome by Conn Iggulden (2)

A Red State of Mind: How a Catfish Queen Reject Became a Liberty Belle by Nancy French (8)

The Queen's Fool by Philippa Gregory (7)

The Collectors by David Baldacci (5)

To the Last Man: A Novel of the First World War by Jeff Shaara (8)

The Rising Tide: A Novel of World War II by Jeff Shaara (7)

Happy Blogger Birthday to Me!

One whole year- how exciting! I had no idea I would enjoy blogging this much, and I had no idea how many wonderful people are out in Bloggityville! So, to celebrate, I'd like to introduce you to a few of my blog friends.

First off, I always visit my real-life friends. Janice and Lisa have a knack for telling it like it is and making me laugh in the process! (If you are ever driving in Baton Rouge, watch out for Lisa, because she heads the mini-van police there and will blog about you if you are rude!) Sara, Summer and Leslie are Moms-in-Diapers, and are doing it with grace and style (and Summer does it without capitals!) If you need some spiritual food for thought, visit Dan at Charis. Dan and I went to LSU together way back when. He teaches at the University of Alabama in Birmingham now and has a gift for sharing God in a real-life way.

If you read these blogs, you might be able to tell that sometimes I hang out with people a lot smarter than I am. This is a good thing, because sometimes I actually learn something from them, like from Jimmy. Jimmy married Connie, my college roomate, and I know he's smart for marrying her, but other people seem to think he's smart too, because he has a PhD in Computer Something-Or-Other (from LSU- Geaux Tigers!) All this to say that sometimes Jimmy shares all that smartness with the rest of us, and he introduced me to Google Reader which I lovelovelove because it has revolutionized the blogging experience for me. Go check it out. Jimmy's blog. And Google Reader (it's very easy to use, promise!)

I love the gentle spirit of Katherine at Raising Five and the gentle Musings of Nashville grandmother Judy Thomas. If you need to start your morning with a good guffaw or two, Antique Mommy and BooMama always come through. If you like your humor laced with politics and a good dose of southern sass, go check out Nancy's Niche (and Nancy's book!) I've found homeschool and crafting kindred spirits at I Have to Say... and Blest With Sons, and I share in the laughs and insanity of having a large family with Heth at From Under the Laundry Pile (except she's more insane than I am). And finally, if you want to see the latest movie, check with Karen; her Four Kids and a Dog have probably seen it.

So, those are just a few of my favorite places in Bloggityville... go visit and say Hi! And thanks so much for your kind comments and encouragement over the past year. You've been a joy and a blessing.