That's it?

When I'm finished with prolife activism, abortion is outlawed, and I'm once again working on a history degree, I'm going to write a book.

Chapter one: Fundraising- which will in fact be a very short chapter. Mainly because since getting started in this work, I've done several fundraisers for other organizations/people, and none for myself. Quite frankly telling potential donors to write a check to you personally just seems sketchy. But I didn't want to take time to become an organization, get a board of directors, file a 501(c)3, ad infinitum, because that would take away from I want to be doing- saving mommies and babies. The bottom line is, no money, no nothing. So the Bank of Jon Hodges, where I have been withdrawing funds, has officially dried up. I think it's past dry. And filing a 501(c)3 costs...you'll never guess.....oh, you did guess- money. $1,000 clams. So I joined Prolifeunity as National Director- but the founder and President thinks like me in one respect- he would rather be saving babies than raising money with his prolife activism hours.

Well, I decided we had to get an EIN so that we could at least get a business checking account, and have checks made out to Pro-Life Unity. What a concept. Expecting it to take vast amounts of time, and at least some expense, I was happily disappointed. From the moment I called the IRS, until I left the bank, checking account accomplished- it was about 1 hour and 33 minutes. Why didn't I do that sooner!! Oh, and the best part. The fee was one I could afford- $0. I can now take checks made out to Pro-Life Unity!

I'll discuss chapter 2 later.....

No more

Things I will no longer be buying at Trader Joe's: Sourdough baguette and 3 Layer Hummus. I have NO self control on the hummus. The pkg, containing 12 servings, is nearly gone, and was purchased yesterday afternoon. Not good. I'm going to jump on the trampoline right now....

Charles' Toad

For anyone who is interested, Mrs. Street discovered that Charles' toad was in a horrible state of dehydration. Charles had put the toad in about 1 inch of water, and I had ordered him to put him the toad in a dry bucket, which he did after some argument with me. Well, it would appear that toads cannot drink water- they absorb it through their skin. Oops! Fortunately, Mrs. Street is very talented when it comes to toad rehabilitation and the toad is now very happy and rehydrated.

Just a plain old update

My plans for the afternoon fell through. I spent about an hour in the morning attempting to orchestrate going to Bowen Homes, checking on Gloria and taking her clothing and a boatload of food. I decided that I was going to need some help in providing these things, as I've become a poor prolife activist. After several calls around town- calls I had been making last week as well- and checking on the possibility of an escort down to Bowen, I made a dreadful discovery. Gloria's phone number has changed! I decided to scrap the outing until Thursday, wrote Gloria a hasty note saying "Please call me!" and decided to be a plain, ordinary mother this afternoon.

I went to Trader Joe's and bought some basics, along with some three layer hummus. If you like hummus, you'll adore this stuff. It is this fabulous creamy texture with a burst of fragrant herbiness- not sure that is a word. I got some mini or baby hot house cucumbers...mmmmm. I've decided this is my new indulgence, but it's low fat and low calorie! Which means I eat about 3x as much. I'll go jump on the trampoline a little more tomorrow.

I took the kids to buy pumpkins. They decided it would be better for each kid to pick his own pie pumpkin(the small ones) rather than buy one ginormous (new word) pumpkin. After a few moments I noticed that Gabriel would select a little pumpkin, give it a careful look over, and then toss it to the ground. Fortunately, they weren't tossed far, but I did nip that behavior in the bud. After pumpkins were selected, we headed for the car, where we quickly realized, as the toxic fumes filled up the cab that Gabriel had loaded his pants while pumpkin hunting. The car was full of bookbags, lunch boxes, abortion signs, a case of fetal babies, stroller, and backpack carrier, and I did not relish the thought of clearing out the back to change his diaper- especially in light of the fact that the parking lot at this church was small, hilly and hugely annoying. So into his carseat he went. I was totally grossed out, but Gabriel didn't even seem to notice.

When we got home, I ordered Jonathan and Caroline to clean out the car- which was trashed in the fullest sense of the word. It's too bad GM doesn't make the Suburban with a front window that lifts open- I could open the back and the front, and then use a blower to get everything out of the car.

Jonathan has been making dreadful grades in Science: C's! It's ridiculous. My mother never helped me with so much as a spelling list in all my years of school, so I was annoyed that Jonathan was not learning the material on his own. This past week I decided to "bite the bullet" and sat down with him, read through the entire chapter, and went over all the questions. I've been through 7th grade science once, and I would prefer not to go through it again, though I know that I'll be doing it 6 more times. Ugh. He made a 100% on his test today. I'm a bit rueful about that. I made a 100% on his test today. I'll be happier when I have nothing to do with the whole process- except looking over his homework and signing the assignment pad. Oh, in case you're wondering, I don't teach Jonathan science. He attends the Great Oak Academy for that class. Clearly if I were teaching it, I wouldn't expect him to get it on his own.

Vivian is currently in constant pajamas. I gave away all of Caroline's clothes after Oliver was born, believing that we were finished having offspring. So there are no hand me downs in the attic for this child. She has three sleeper PJ's, one that fits, and two that I'm squeezing her into. I decided to go to Goodwill to buy her a winter wardrobe, but Jon didn't want me to do that. He feels that Goodwill should be reserved for really poor people. I feel that Goodwill should be reserved for really frugal people. Jon would prefer that I go to Macy's and get her winter clothes. So I'll do that, just as soon as my fabulous $25 off $100 purchase coupon is in date. I have a couple of those coupons, so that should be good. And it will be nice having Vivvie look adorable, since she is our dolly. I'm tempted to stop by Goodwill on my way to Macy's just to see what I'm missing out on.
The boys need some pants. All the pants have been in constant use since Jonathan first donned them as a young chap, and they're worn out. Holes in the knees, missing snap parts, and a general grunge look. I think that I will check out Goodwill for pants for the three middle ruffians. I just flipped through the latest Landsend catalog and I'm guessing it would cost about $2,000 to buy my offspring a winter wardrobe from that catalog. A single set of PJ's for $30!!!! That is insane. The clothes are adorable and well made, but $30 for one set of PJ's? I still can't get over it. Add the robe and slippers, and you're looking at $100 a kid- provided they only have one set of jammies. I have decided that Target is not an option for buying clothes for my children. Their stuff does not last more than 2 weeks. The pants get holes in the knees faster than my dry cleaned suit gets chocolate or blood on the pants compliments of Gabriel or Vivvie.

That's it for this update except that I'm having a very nice glass of Merlot from Aldi's. For Aldi's $4 a bottle wine, it is rather good.

Toadally Gross

I think I mentioned in an earlier post that Charles had gotten a very large toad at the funeral on Monday night. This morning the toad escaped in the laundry room. Thankfully, it was making noises and Caroline found it and returned it to the cage. This afternoon, Charles decided that he should give the toad to Mrs. Street, Jonathan's Science teacher. He felt that the toad would be happy there with all the other toads in Mrs. Street's care.

And so it was that Charles held the toad carefully in his lap on the way to Mrs. Street's. However, somehow the toad escaped, something I realized when it came hopping into the front seat to join me. I yelled in a surprised manner, as this is a very helpful way of dealing with unexpected animals in the car. I was not interested in squished frog on the brake or gas pedal, so I immediately pulled the car over and walked around to the passenger side. I cautiously opened the door not wanting the toad to jump out, and trying to be prepared for anything. I was imagining the family piling out to search the forest with Charles wailing at me in the background, and Oliver reproaching me for losing Charles' bestest frog.

I opened the door and there the frog was clinging to the side of it for dear life, all stretched out. Were I not so worried about it jumping away, I would have enjoyed seeing how long it was capable of holding that position. As it was, I quickly grasped it, and a REPULSIVE shudder ran through my entire body. My first reaction was to throw the thing from me, but then I had some presence of mind and remembered that we would be back where we started, a loose toad in the car. So I remained calm, toad in hand, and handed it to Charles.

As I climbed back into the drivers seat, I reflected on what mothers do for their sons. Charles had a very pleased grin- I think he was also worried I might lose the toad forever in the woods on the side of the road, and we delivered it to Mrs. Street. Actually her son took custody of it. Charles remarked that the toad looked to be losing weight and was in desperate need of some crickets. He was assured that his toad would be feed promptly and well cared for.

On a very happy note, the toad will be visited by Charles on Tuesday mornings, and I won't have a toad living in my laundry room or Suburban, for that matter.

One dish meals by default

My days are not just very full, they are insanely full. I attempt to do in a day, what I used to do in a week. So by the time I need to start preparing dinner, I occasionally stop short of the mark.

Case in point, Tuesday night this week i began mentally putting the meal together as I looked for ingredients. Rice, butter beans, yellow squash and salmon fillets (my brother brought these over a couple weeks ago and put them in the freezer). In short order the rice was cooking, and then I diced an onion, got it sauteing, cracked open the two cans of butter beans, and then drifted over to my computer. I was immediately and entirely absorbed in shooting off email replies, and quite frankly forgot I was wife and mother, much less in the midst of dinner prep.

Somehow through the fog of business I heard Jon's truck rumble into the driveway, and glanced up. Uh, oh. Dinner. I raced to the stove, dumped the butter beans into the pan of onions, checked the rice, and decided who needs salmon. I called everyone to the table, put the rice and beans on, and in walked Jon.

Honestly, I thought Jon was going to say something in the way of complaint. Even I felt like a farmer's wife post civil war, spooning out starvation rations of butter beans and rice. On the bright side, just looking at the food gave one less of an appetite. Much to my shock Jon made absolutely no comment about dinner, and then asked for seconds!

I was puzzled. But the man looked exhausted, and quite frankly, I couldn't even remember the last time we got more than 6 hours sleep, so I decided he wasn't fully conscious of what he was eating.

The next day when everyone sat down to dinner, Jon looked the meal over and said, "At least it isn't butter beans and rice." I laughed and laughed. Last night's dinner was really a winner. Noodles, chunks of chicken, broccoli and cheese in a savory sauce. No salad or rolls on the side, but as Jon said,"Not only is this not butter beans and rice, it's actually yummy!"

Good thing I locked the door

When my dad was here for 8 weeks, one of the things he did was to replace the locks in the front and back doors. Jon and I weren't exactly sure where a house key was located, and we never locked the house anyway. This concerned dear old dad. Once he had put in the new locks, he gave us keys and told us to keep the doors locked.

So now I always lock the doors when I leave the house. Yesterday afternoon I was fumbling at the front door with Vivian in my arms, and Gabriel hanging on my leg, trying to get my keys out of my purse, dropped the keys, picked them up, got the key into the lock, and then still holding Vivian and trying to maneuver around Gabriel pulled the door to me and turned the key. Once in the house, I breathed a sigh of relief, put Vivian down and walked into into the den. I realized that the bathroom light was on, and someone was clearly in there.

Knock, knock. "Who's in there," I ordered. "It's me, mom," said Charles. I was amazed. "How in the world did you get into the house?" I asked. "Well, I tried the front door and it was locked, so I ran around to the back door."

Good thing I locked the front door.

A Funeral

Last Thursday morning a dear friend died suddenly from a heart attack. The memorial service was Monday night. Jon had school right after work, and then a session meeting following that, so I dressed the kids up and hauled everyone to Gainesville for the service. It was about 5:45pm when we left the house. I hadn't had time to feed everyone with the hassle of cleaning them up and pulling on suits, etc.

We arrived at the church a little after 7, and the place was packed. It was standing room only, but fortunately the ushers found us a place in the "cry room". A cry room is a room attached to the sanctuary where you can see and hear but cannot be seen or heard. Very nice when church training your little people.

After the service, the front doors were thrown open and there in the front yard, under canopies, a supper was laid out. My clan didn't care about the food, they wanted to go play with all the kids. This was a small congregation, but lots of kids- 9 babies were born this summer, just to give you an idea. My children had such a great time. Gabriel found a happy home at the beverage table where he was ladled cup after cup of apple juice. He was in apple juice heaven. Vivian was not happy at all, being condemned to being in my arms the entire time when she wanted to wriggle free and explore the place.

Finally at 10pm I rounded them up and sent them to the car two at a time. My girlfriend was riding with us back home, and just as she was about to get into the Suburban, she let out a shriek. "Do you know what your son has?" she asked me. I said no, but I could take a guess- perhaps a lizard? It was a very large toad, and the grin on Charles face was priceless. My girlfriend let him know that he was not to let it loose in the car, very nicely. I was just hoping the thing wouldn't pee on Charles' blazer.

As we drove out of the parking lot and onto the road, the children chorused," Thanks, mom, for taking us to the funeral." My girlfriend looked at me and said," You really have to get out more."

Another great camping trip

We just got back from a camping trip south of Atlanta to High Falls State Park. We arrived Friday early afternoon and left Sunday early afternoon. This time we had a spot right next door to our good friends. Between us there were 10 kids, ages: 11 (Jonathan turned 11 on Oct. 10th), 9,7,6,5,4,3,3,2,1. It was a wonderful trip, and the kids were very excited because as they said, they had their friends all "planned" out.

We had one scare when Oliver was commanded to stay with Elsa (he had wanted to go into the woods to hunt for fire wood with the older kids), and separately Elsa was commanded to stay near camp. Oliver convinced Elsa that they should go to the woods together, and off they went, undetected by the adults. Maybe 10 minutes later we realized they were gone, and more than 20 minutes later the kids were found. It was a bit on the disconcerting side.

The kids also went prowling around for wildlife. They reported that there was a black widow in the bathroom. I didn't believe it and rolled my eyes scoffing. After all, I had seen all the really massive spiders on the last trip-nothing to write home about. So they decided to catch the very much alive and rather large black widow on a stick and brought it to camp proudly- they meaning, Jonathan, Pierce, Caroline, Oliver and Charles. For some reason Adelaide and Elsa were not around at that moment. Yes, they had my undivided attention as the huge spider leisurely strolled back and forth across the very short stick, which Jonathan held with equal nonchalance. I took things in charge, put stick and spider on the ground, and stomped until the big spider was a small dirty mass- hardly recognizable as a spider much less black widow. I think let them know that for future reference, leave poisonous spiders alone!

The kids had a blast and the adults found it nice to have 4 pair of eyes watching out for the little ones. Vivian enjoyed exploring, and because of the way the camp sites were laid out, steered clear of the road for the most part.

The nights were cold, so on night two we tried out the heater- it was wonderful! And the noise of the fan kept the kids sleeping a lot longer. I decided that was well worth missing out on the forest noises.

I cooked in my dutch ovens over the fire- Chicken, veggies and biscuits on night one, and a pot of trailside beans to go with hotdogs on night two. Night one I didn't start cooking until about 6pm, when I should have really begun at 4. Our friends next door had decided on freeze dried lasagna which required boiling water and that was it. Their family was eating LONG before our family. Oliver said,"Man, I want to move in with the Loechls because then I'd be eating already." The Loechls had even finished off their dessert of Raspberry Crumble before we sat down to eat. But when you make the tribe wait so long to eat, they eat without complaint. We polished off an entire chicken (cut into 8 pieces) and 8 extra drumsticks, besides a pile of sauteed vegetables and biscuits. Of course we had pancakes and bacon for breakfast both mornings. It is our camping tradition now.

Although on Friday and Saturday nights I did scrub the children's feet, hands and faces, I didn't give them baths because it really was quite cold - 48 degrees. Tonight I put them in the tub (the three younger ones), and noticed the Johnson bottle read- "gentle mild soap". I scrubbed away at very dirty little bodies and figured I should keep Lava Soap on hand for these occasions.

Charles pants were so dirty after two hours this morning, it was remarkable. I couldn't figure out how the child could have so much dirt on his clothing. I just sat and watched him for awhile, and then noticed that he would kick off his Crocs, run around in the dirt for a little while, then rub his feet off on his pant legs, and put his Crocs back on. When I stain treated the pants tonight, literally there may have been a few square inches of cloth that didn't need to be treated.

We were all sad to come home. Jon and I just about have this camping thing down to a science. A few minor changes, and I think things will be perfectly streamlined. We are all a little sad that our next trip isn't until December, but we'll be camping for two whole weeks. Hurrah!

Food, Glorious Food

After 6 weeks of dreadful pain in my jaw, neck, shoulders, etc., and not eating much, I finally went to see my neuromuscular therapist. I should go every 6 weeks, but didn't go all summer, and things hit a real low by early September. My doctor worked me into his Saturday schedule this past weekend, and worked on me for over an hour and a half. It was quite painful, and I went home and sat around with ice on my face and neck for awhile. But Sunday and today I actually ate three meals! Hurrah! I have another session tomorrow morning, and then every Tuesday for awhile, until I'm pain free.

My doctor, after working on me Saturday, gave me a bit of a lecture. He had no idea how I could even be functioning, except that I'm rather tenacious. Me? :-) The reason I need all this therapy? When I had the joyful option as a teenager of having my jaw broken, reset, and wired shut for six weeks, or live with minor jaw issues, I opted for the later. However, apparently as I grow older, the problem is becoming more pronounced.

I am feeling much more cheerful and patient. So if anyone out there has bad news, or a really stupid question, now is a good time!