Pay rates

I firmly believe children should earn money to learn fiscal responsibility. At our house the pay scale runs thus:

Watch Claire for 30 mins: $.10 (you've all heard the story of Joe's laboring for this payment, right?)

Do 2 "everyday" chores in addition to chore of the day: 30 mins of computer time

Do "chore of the day" everyday for a week and don't get charged for bad behavior: $1.00 allowance payable at random intervals throughout the year. Back pay stops at $5.00

I wonder sometimes why Joe is the only one who keeps track of all this, and the only one who asks what chore he can do for allowance or computer time. Eliz, $10 for weeding the garden is WAY too much. $.50 is good for cleaning the room. Beware of raising expectations!

However, congrats on the bees! This IS news. You're becoming more and more agricultural every day. Maybe you could put Nick in charge of collecting the honey, and he could keep the profits, since he seems to have an entrepreneurial spirit.

Please post a photo of your beds for our future construction. LOVE the bookcases. Bibliophilia is a legitimate disorder. I was chastened today to find that not everyone at the CECOSC book club appreciated "Lizzie's War" as I did. One wife thought Liz was too whiney and needed to pull up her bootstraps. Another thought the dad was too cavalier about war deaths and that his priorities were messed up. I did not do a good job of standing up for Liz, perhaps because I didn't want to reveal my own whininess. No other CECOSC wives are Catholic, so maybe they missed the sacrifice/fidelity/sacramental imagination themes. Then again, maybe I over read. The author's other books look disappointing. Nonetheless, I am still love this book.

Some swim meet photos. At least they don't wear mankinis.

Annie's happy moment. If only she could go in a straight line.
Speedster James. A surprisingly bouyant child despite the lack of body fat.

This week's entry

Time for the weekly blog. David and Mardena just left..we met them at Ertel Winery for their 30th wedding anniversary...my little brother! We had a delicious dinner...I had the sea bass..mmmmm. They came back here for some "anniversary" pie. Dad baked a wild black raspberry pie this afternoon and it was WONDERFUL! Our desert topic was saints and sinners. Mardena made a DVD for David with pictures from their wedding up to the present..music too. It was quite touching. I always admire people who have good ideas and actually follow up on them. I am a little (?) weak on the follow up!
Elizabeth and children and I went to visit with Grandma on Wednesday and she was fine. Thursday I accompanied Mimi to a retirement facility for a tour, lunch and then a presentation by Dr. Dirt (Dick Crum from WIBC). For any of you who have never heard him on the radio...he is really quite the comedian! I won a gardening book as a door prize! I made some new friends that day. Mom is not ready for this type of living arrangement, but I suppose it is good to know what is out there.
We watched Augst Rush last night and I agree with Elizabeth's analysis..sweet and entertaining. I slept well afterwards. We also watched Bella the other night. I had seen it but Dad had not. I still liked it the second time.
More later...

Three thumbs up for "Lizzie's War" by Tim Farrington! I finished it the other night standing in the bathroom until 1:00, because I just was going to read one more chapter . . . Last time I did that was Alice MacDermott's "After This." I don't think I've ever identified more closely with another fictional character as I did with Lizzie O'Reilly since I was 10 and wanted to be Scarlett O'Hara.

VBS is finally done, and the rest of our summer is going to be spent swimming and being as lazy as possible. Swim meet today went well, but we were a bit sluggish since we stayed up late to finish watching the Keira Knightly Pride and Prejudice. The kids were restless and whiney when we started the movie (Ben: "Aren't there any fights or action?" Me: "Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth are fighting right now." Ben: "That's it?!") but when I tried to turn it off everyone complained. By the end they were sitting quietly and talked about it all the way to bed. Personally I thought it was over-acted. Keira is too giddy for Elizabeth. But the cinematography was pretty, and that's what counts these days. I did like the guy who was Mr. Darcy. Should probably know his name - seemed to have the right mix of broody/earnestness/nobility and still seem attractive. I thought it was interesting how dowdy and sloppy some of the character's seemed -- liked they hadn't washed for several weeks, which is probably authentic, but not like the BBC version.

Hurt Feelings

Okay, I have injured pride today. As a beneficiary of the Federal Government and a wife of one of its members, I had to respond to someone near and dear's latest slam. If you would like a copy of my highly patriotic and in fact possibly incendiary email, I will forward you one, but it is a little long for this venue. I am guilty of abusing email to write what I would never say to someone's face. I am also guilty of being tired of suffering in silence the little slaps in the face of liberal bias in letters begging for money.

My other complaint, hey Mom, it was ME who highly recommended The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. I think I saw it before Elizabeth. Me first! Anyway, loved it, but was disappointed that the girlfriend finally showed up in the end. Eliz, I second your pan of Water for Elephants, even more emphatically since I stuck through to the saccharine ending. I never felt the narrator's voice was authentic, and the ending was visible for miles. However, I did find the circus setting mildly entertaining, even though the tone was almost condescending.

Another pick: I'm 2/3rds through a book called "Lizzie's War" by a local Catholic author, Tim Farrington, and so far I LOVE it. This guy has a pregnant women's voice down pat, and then convincingly alternates that with a Marine's letters: even more authentic. Plot: Wife, pregnant with #5, waits for Marine Husband to return from Vietnam. There're drunk priests, wild prepubescent boys, and bizarre childhood and military wife behavior. Maybe it's a bit too familiar. I keep waiting for the shoe to drop at the end to ruin my enjoyment of this book. In fact I'm going to quit typing and go read.

Kate, loved the pictures of your boys. Charles looks like he needs a good squeeze!

Love, Emily

Here is my weekly commitment to blog entry. Unfortunately, I have little of note to write about. One of the best things about the interval between my last entry and this one is that we have experienced some of the BEST of Indiana weather this past week. Beautiful blue sky, cool breezes, full moon and starlit nights, temperate temperatures....all making it difficult to be inside and fulfill the chore list. Truthfully, one of the outstanding events of the week was following Elizabeth's suggestion to watch THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY. Dad and I watched it Sunday night and I have not quit thinking about, talking about, remembering..the movie. I want to watch it again already. PLEASE, run, don't walk (or access Netflix) and rent the movie.
Seth and the girls were here on Tuesday and Wednesday to do some painting. All of the drywall from top to bottom (excluding bedrooms and bathrooms) has been painted...and it looks so fresh and bright. I am taking my time putting things back together trying to make good decisions about what to keep and what to discard. Clutter is really bothering me lately. I am overwhelmed by stuff. I had a good time with the girls while Dad and Seth painted.
Now..back to work!
Love, Mom

For Dan! For Vanity!

Well, nothing much interesting happens here, but I'll blog anyway for Dan and my own vanity. The kids and I just got back from an overnight to San Antonio. (Here are the boys living it up at El Mercado. ) We went with my parents to attend the baptism of my cousin's new son (3 weeks older than Luke!) It was quite the party. I don't see those cousins much, and especially not all together, so it was a nice gathering. (Actually, I hadn't seen my cousin Sara since my wedding! She had never met Luke!)


Then we came home and back to normalcy/boredom (call it what you will.) Luke had a fun morning sniffing PlayDough in between train and crane constructions (that's my bulldozer masterpiece on the table.)



Another gem: this sweet "Bros Husted" portrait gone wrong. I think Charlie knows he's ruining the picture. This could have been, but wasn't, the time that Luke said, "Hey Mommy, Charlie gots beans on him!" Why must my life involve so much poo?

My Pledge

Elizabeth, thanks for using your compositional talent for the good of the family. I have taken the pledge and here is my weekly entry. I do wish that I possessed a portion of the literary vocation so that my entries would stimulate the laughter that inevitably results when I tune in, but alas, I am a reader and not a writer.
Speaking of which, I just read in Zenit a speech given by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, the Archbishop of Westminister to the youth in Liverpool. His topic concerned his hopes for the youth. His main points centered around the need for community, dialogue and the spiritual life. On the last theme, he referred to a book that sounds interesting...here is the quote:
"I came across an echo of this in a contemporary modern author recently. In his novel Life After God, the Canadian author, Douglas Coupland writes:“Now -- here is my secret; I tell it to you with an openness of heart that I doubt I shall ever achieve again, so I pray that you are in a quiet room as you hear these words. My secret is that I need God -- that I am sick and can no longer make it alone. I need God to help me give, because I no longer seem to be capable of giving; to help me to be kind as I no longer seem capable of kindness; to help me love as I seem beyond being able to love.”
Has anyone heard about this book or read it?
Dad and I had a good time yesterday....Jane had been at our house for a couple of days (we had a wonderful visit during the moments when Dad could take a break from his political rantings...which Jane very much enjoyed and encouraged!)and we took her to the airport early in the morning. Because we were planning to babysit for the Duffy kids that eve, we thought we might stay in town and meet them at Holy Rosary for the 4:30pm mass and then sample the Italian Street Festival. First, we went to the City Market and had coffee (most of our companions at the outdoor tables were homeless) and picked up a newspaper (yes, Nuvo) to see what was going on in the city. There were many options to choose from...but headed for the Talbot Street art fair. We had some trouble traveling north out of downtown because by this time, the GLBT parade had started through the downtown streets and we had to be rerouted several times. We did get an unexpected glimpse of the parade....It was quite colorful. Once out of the downtown proper, we stopped at Crawford's bakery...I had a scone, Dad had a donut, a cherry cheese danish, and a cream cheese iced brownie. We had an unexpectedly good time at the art fair...yes, there was an excess of menopause art, tie dye, yard art, etc.. but some very good art as well. We had several conversations with the artists of the work that we most admired...one from Denmark, one from Russia, one from India, and one from Ireland. We were wondering what to make of it....what does it say about the international art scene and the art training that is received? I also had a wave of nostalgia...remembering another time in our lives when we frequented this particular art fair....oh youth! When we had had our fill, we headed up to mom's and took her out to lunch and visited for a little while. She was good and was pleased with the unexpected visit. Then back downtown to Holy Rosary for a beautiful mass...much incense, beautiful music, bells ringing....I was overwhelmed with gratitude for the gift of our Catholic faith. Out the doors then into the sea of humanity....every Italian food offering, beer guzzeling, wine gulping, every size and shape conceivable of the human body, all drenched with sweat!! I loved it! They had a Marian procession a little later with lots of kids dressed in Italian costumes, lots of little boys in red cassocks, the Knights of Columbus dressed in full regalia with feathers and swords, a beautiful statue of Mary and again, lots of bells from the bell tower. What is not to love???? We feasted on meatball sandwiches, Italian ice,and lots of lemonade. We eventually took our leave with the Duffy children, but had to make one last stop....Frosty Boy!!! Ummmm. Then home to bed, tired but happy.
I am hoping that everyone else is taking the pledge and I am looking forward to the entries!!
Happy Father's Day to all the Dads reading this blog......

weekly wandering

Hola, Familia!
Elizabeth, perhaps if your pictures don't attract advertising dollars, my multilingualism will. I was going to post some pictures of C's birthday, but it seems the Duffy's are much easier to exploit for humor.

Here's something interesting: Good homeschooling family that we are, we have been reading Mary Poppins outloud for the past 6 months, not that it's long, but somehow things get in the way. The kids keep wondering when she is going to turn nice. In the book, MP is very detached, snappish, and more than a little petty, and not at pretty like Julie Andrews. Tonight the selection was about a midnight romp at the zoo in honor of Mp's bday. The king of the beasts is not the lion, but the hamadryad, who is a cobra like creature. The kids were wandering what a hamadryad was, so I googled it tonight, and discovered that PL Travers was into theosophism, Buddhism, and Navajo mysticism, which makes some of the silliness of the story make more sense. "We are all one" says the hamadryad, who is also a snake in Yeats' poetry, but a kind of tree nymph in Greek mythology. Wasn't Walt D. something of a New Age afficionado? And people are worried about Harry Potter. Please don't tell any of your Catholic friends, but we are thoroughly enjoying the story. My cover: CS Lewis' Out of the Silent Planet ends with a Bacchic romp at midnight, replete with talking bears and bridal bower festivities.

On to more interesting news: First swim meet today: A place 1st in 2 events and JA placed 1st in 4 of 5, but DQ'd in 1, the butterfly. B received no blue ribbons, so he was very mopey, but at least he didn't come in last -by a lot - this year, like last year. JW did better, too, and was happy to get a blue for his relay.

Happy Father's Day, dads, by the way

I'll let pictures do the rest of my talking, at least most of it:

Cs first catch, at Cub Scout family camp. Yes, J's pole did fall in the water, but JA saved it. He asked for a reward for about four days. J did catch a fish; there just happened to be about 50 milling around the dock, waiting for a snack. C's other catch:

J'er's stitches:

Scenes from C's birthday:

Susie Walden

Sabboth greetings to the fam.
I just wanted to let you know that Susie Walden, Robert's (Jane's brother) daughter, died yesterday. I think some of you may have met her once or twice. She had lung cancer. Her story is a sad one, full of misguided choices and heartache for those who loved her. However, I do believe from what Jane has shared, that in her last few years, she was able to live a more peaceful life and had a wonderful relationship with her son. Robert spent the last two weeks assisting in her care (she was in hospice in her home in Newago, Michigan) and I trust that those days were healing for Robert and Susie. Jane is flying into Indy Tuesday and driving up for the funeral with Marcia and Paul. She is planning to stay in Indy for a few days afterwards.
Life is short....

Für Eliz... some potty humor

www.misternicehands.com

Have fun!

Still suspect the blog is fated to "wither," Dan? With gems like these? Hmmm?

last day

of school - woo hoo! To celebrate we ate jello and cool whip, mmm, and went to the library to sign up for the summer reading club, heh, heh. John looked simply dashing in his plaid shorts, striped tee, and clip on tie, all in various shades of blue. Wish I had a picture to share. Will try to photo his stitches, but right now he doesn't want anyone to touch them.

Also had a discussion with Ben on semantics: He accused me of treating him like a spoiled brat. I pointed out that if he were going to be recalcitrant and irresponsible, I was not going to share chocolate chips with him when he demanded. (he didn't even ask politely!) So then he accused me: "You ARE calling me a spoiled brat." I pointed out that I was only saying he was acting like one, not that he was one. Love the sinner, hate the sin... The bonus of this conversation was that I got him to take out the trash to make up for acting like a spoiled brat and to earn a treat.

On the slate for the weekend: A trip to the beach tomorrow, then Dan is taking the boys camping in Newport News with teh Cub Scouts. The girls will come up on Saturday for a night. Annie is hoping we can go to Target again. Today she pointed out all the things that Claire wanted for her birthday: A tea set, a baby doll, a fairy Schliech figure on a horse, a princess Barbie, shoes . . . hmm, something someone almost six might enjoy. Meanwhile, John was very clear that he didn't care what Claire wanted, he wanted a good many things, and most especially he wanted his birthday to be the day after tomorrow.

weather, books and schedules

I just arrived home with Grandma Margaret. Anne and Bill are without power (their back up generator is on the bum) so they are also without water. They have a lot of trees down, fences that will need mending , and it is unlikely that their power will be restored before Saturday. Dad is going over on Saturday morning with his chain saw to assist with the clean up...with the other two Davids. Fortunately, we have not had any damage here from this round of severe weather that really began last Friday. There were some destructive tornados not far from Joe and Elizabeth. Mimi was without power from Friday until early Tuesday. However, she would not come to stay with us....so intent on maintaining independence! I do not know how much longer that will last.
Michelle, I was moved by your poem. I am certain that your friend's husband will benefit. There really IS only one thing that will satisfy...and as I recently read in my book of meditations, THE BETTER PART, Christ is always in your boat, even when he appears to be sleeping! (you can guess which scripture passage it was referring to!). Congratulations on the sales recognition. We are looking forward to our weekend with the girls!
Emily...we already spoke about John's "series of unfortunate events".
I read the book , THE END OF THE ALPHABET while I was at your house. As I was reading it, I was not thrilled by it (though I was somewhat attracted to the particular stylistic prose...it was good that it was a short book because too much of that is not my preference) , and yet I could not wait to get back to it at the end of the day to finnish it. It is one that simply got under my skin in a way that made me contemplate the brevity of life and how Dad and I should be proceeding. It is good to be reminded...even through the example of secular literature.
I have returned to my ANIMAL, VEGETABLE, MIRACLE, a Year of Food Life. I really enjoy her presentation of the seasonal food cycle, the joys of growing your own food and supplementing only with local fare. Just yesterday, Elizabeth and children were here and we feasted on strawberry shortcake with strawberries from her neighbor's garden. Emily, it calls to mind the article that you had published in Canticle several years ago about the Jewish way of eating with "meaning". After reading a couple of chapters over the weekend, I hurried out to put my beet seeds into the ground. We are really behind on our garden...corn, tomatos, potatos, peppers, and beets. Hopefully soon we can get a few more things planted. On the good side..every single rose bush I have is blooming now.... a glorious show of color!
About schedules...I certainly was not a particularly good example for you...and still can not be. My days seldom ever turn out the way I think they will. My friend, mother of 12, has struck a balance between (what I perceive to be) the over the top planning of Holly Peirlot (which I think would result in greater stress, not less) and utter chaos. She says that she has learned to simply try and prioritize the importance of things on a daily/weekly basis, so that when things enevitably get off schedule, the essential things have a greater chance of getting accomplished. Makes sense to me. (and might explain why there are articles of clothing in my ironing basket that have been awol for years!)

Stillness

This is very simple but felt compelled. I wrote it for a good friend of mine who was struggling with her husband's depression.
She needed perspective on what its like to live with the dreaded menace of depression. I wrote it so she could share it with him, which is why I wrote from the perspective of "son" .



I long to be where stillness lives.
I am caught up in the torrent of heavy thoughts.
Lord I call on you to show me the way, soon before I am swept away.
I long to be where stillness lives.
My God, my Creator reach out to me I beg you.
My mind is consumed with worldly and mortal things.
They are rushing in to consume me. I can't seem to find the shore of salvation, through the dense fog of my heavy thoughts.
My son, your longing for stillness has been heard.
Close your eyes and pray that the stillness you seek will come to you today.
Stillness can be found in the gentle breeze that blows across your face, or in your wife's sweet embrace.
Stillness lives in the smell of lilac that visits in the spring.
Stillness lives listening to the Robin when she sings.
Most of all the stillness lives in your prayers to me at night.
For I who created you, can see the torment.
Lift your thoughts up to me and then my son you will be free.
Stillness comes in the conversations between you and Me.
I am your Salvation and will get you to shore.
You can stop swimming in your heavy thoughts, my son who I adore.
Stillness lives in Me I am the only one who can set you free, and send your heavy thoughts out to sea;
while you rest upon the shore with Me.
Stillness.
Michelle M. Husted

Hello

I have been swamped at work. However, I have two poems I wrote that I will post. I have shared them with a few people first to make sure they were worth everyone's while.

I got producer of the month last month!! It was a very good victory for me as I was told in Jan. that they needed me to step up in a big way. Thanks for all the prayers, I can assure you way too many blessings fell from the sky to take credit for anything.

I will get one of my poem's on soon.

PS

A belated Happy Anniversary to my esposo and belatedly Happy Anniversary to the Duffy's! I think a good date would be to go camping. Maybe next year we will get around to buying something.

post camping camping post

Hi All! Home from our camping trip and all laundered. Dan is wondering if The Husteds is going to wither... so here's some new juice. Enjoy these photos from our camping trip in SE Ohio at Wolf Run State Park and our visit to The Wilds. Beware! You are not in the savannahs of Africa though so it may seem!

Above: a wild, ice age beast called the Szchuawan Taakon.

Rhinos up close and personal

Loving, fashionable Sisters!

Song and Dance Time


Left: A caged Daniel. Above: Wild Janie

A book to read: The End of the Alphabet, by C.S. Richardson. A tender, evocative little novella about a man's last month and the way he shares it with his wife. Spare, poetic prose, not overly sentimental despite the maudlin topic. Perhaps it was my mood, but I was more strongly moved by this book, than by any others I've read lately.

A website to peruse: check out the hillbilly housewife. Despite my good intentions after the discussions this weekend not to get overly extended and not to waste time online, I was fascinated by the description on this page on how to make your own menstrual pads, among other useful information, and by the link to free home school curricula, which included links to many fascinating and worthwhile books on the gutenberg project page, in addition to others (opensource books and librivox...).

So now it is midnight and I'm signing off. Oh yeah, the other way I already scuttled good intentions to reestablish order and routine without overextending was by throwing aside my original plan for the day to do school, run a couple of errands, hit Armata Bianca (the children's holy hour) before heading to piano lessons, which would end just in time to get to swim team practice from 5-7, in order to go to the Maloney's to swim in their pool. I was going to still make piano and swim team if it weren't for John tumbling off the coach and cracking open his head on their coffee table. So we went to the ER for four stitches on his inch or more long gash. He was very brave and didn't cry at all after the initial injury. He was given a little calico bear that doesn't bend, as he has pointed out (no joints), and which is now named Freddy Be Good Bear because John was so proud of himself for being good at the dr's. (although if he had been good earlier and not jumped on the couch, we would've been spared the trip). Kids were happy to regale Dad with the story of his blood gushing all over his back and my hand and the Maloney's floor. The good thing was I could leave all the kids with Kelly to go to the ER. Then again, it wouldn't have happened if I had done that holy hour instead ...

I'm thinking if I had a vanity plate it should say "Stchsrus." Another fave: "fulload"