It's the little things...

Last weekend we realized that every time the coffeemaker cycled on, it would make our ground fault outlet trip and we'd lose power to half of the kitchen outlets.

We, of course, didn't diagnose this problem before our planned visit to The Home Depot.  No, that just isn't our style.  Too easy, ya know.  Instead, later, I picked the girls up from work and took them with me to get a new GFCI outlet.  How hard could it be?

Do you know there are actually choices when you want a GFCI outlet?  I know now.  20 volts vs. 15 volts.  Red and black test/reset buttons vs. all white.  I thought I was doing well when I told the guy who offered to help me that I needed the Decora style.  He told me that's all they come in.  Who knew?  So, bottom line, I knew the info that wasn't necessary but didn't know the answers to the real questions.

Eventually, after a call to Clarence, I managed to choose the right outlet.  As I was leaving the mysterious land of electrical gadgetry, I happened to notice something interesting.  Another call to Clarence to check his willingness to do the additional installation and I happily headed to the check-out with this direct-wired nightlight.

You see, we have a nightlight we turn on in the kitchen every night, in order to safely climb the stairs to our bedroom.  Plus, we had this open slot where we had originally planned I-don't-remember-what (maybe a hard wired switch for our remote control ceiling fan?).  Anyhow, that spot hasn't ever had anything, nor had I ever managed to remember to look for a switch plate cover to cover up the hole.  (I know that's hard to believe, just keeping it real.)

Clarence installed it that night and I am simply delighted.  The gaping outlet hole is gone, and in its place is something perfect for our needs.  No more groping down the steps in the dark if we happened to forget to turn the nightlight on, plus this location actually gives us better light on the stairs themselves.

We all know that the little things can drive you crazy but, in this case, a little thing makes me incredibly happy.

For Molly

Today is special

I celebrate with haiku

Molly's day of birth

 She laughs easily

And everyone laughs with her

Joy she brings to all

She is beautiful

She is sweet, kind, and loving

Now she's seventeen.

Molly, I hope you have enjoyed a wonderful day, filled with surprises and happiness.

December quiz

We traveled up north for this month's quiz.  The girls and I took the opportunity to make it a weekend away with our friends by leaving Friday afternoon and spending the night at a hotel near the church where the quiz was held.  Clarence drove up Saturday morning, bringing our remaining quizzer and the coach along.

We had a lot of fun spending time with our friends but as far as a strategy for being better rested, it didn't work so well.  None of us slept really well but the kids were still able to quiz well.



Molly's brother Max joined the team this month and did well as a brand-new quizzer.  The team competed in the Senior Teen Veteran A division and came home with the first place trophy.

In individual competition, Allison took first and Molly got third place.  This is only the second month Molly has quizzed, so she is doing amazingly well.

Max came in fourth in individuals, one place shy of getting a medal, but fantastic for a first timer-and he quizzed in the Young Teen Vet division, even though he's a rookie.

Although we saw a lot of cars in the ditches as we traveled, we all made it home safely, ready to quiz another day.

How to freak out your family for Thanksgiving

First, make sure they hear all about your Vibe vs. Semi accident a couple days prior to the holiday.  Let them know you were unhurt.


The day after the accident, keep your appointment to have skin cancer surgery-the kind where they scrape some skin off, test to see if they got all the cancer, then scrape more skin off until they are sure they have all of the bad stuff off your nose.  Make sure you don't mention the surgery ahead of time to any of the extended family.  It would ruin the effect completely.


Walk out of the surgery appointment with a ridiculous amount of bandaging on your nose, which must remain in place for 48 hours.


Go home, get some sleep.  You've had a stressful week.


Wake up on Thanksgiving with the black eye the surgeon told you to expect.


Now, at long last, all is in place to freak out your family.  Enjoy it.  It's probably the best time you'll have for a while, considering what you've done for fun this week.




 

Thankful for inconvenience, instead of tragedy

There was a freezing rain advisory until 4 AM Tuesday morning and by the time Clarence left for work around 6, it was still slick.

This fall, the road commission paved about a mile of road between our road and the highway.  We've been enjoying the smooth ride and a little less mud on our commutes.  We have had concerns about how it would differ from years past once the weather changed, so Clarence was taking it slow and cautious as he headed for the highway yesterday.

As he approached the highway, he realized there was no way he would be able to get the car stopped in time, though the anti-lock brakes were working overtime, and he could see a semi truck headed for his intersection.  The braking system allowed him to maintain good control over his steering so he quickly made the decision to aim the car for the shoulder of the highway, heading south on the northbound shoulder.  There was nowhere for the trucker to go, as there was traffic from the opposite direction as well, and he hit the passenger side of our poor little Vibe.


The airbags deployed (so glad we got the driver's side one fixed this summer!) but Clarence had closed his eyes, waiting for the impact, so he didn't see that happen.  He says the airbag didn't hit him, either, since he was almost stopped by then and he sits so far back due to his height.

It seems, to me, an incredibly small amount of visible damage for being hit by a semi.  We're pretty sure it's too old for fixing it to be a viable option, though the insurance adjuster hasn't seen it yet.  We decided to see if we could find a replacement, just in case, especially since we've talked about adding another car to our fleet for several months.

We were pretty excited to find another Vibe, three years newer than ours, though our old one has nicer options than this one.  We'll miss power windows and door locks (hard to remember having a car without those "basics" or a clicker to lock and unlock it-how spoiled we are!).

It made for a busy day, trying to decide between new or used, and looking at what was available.  Even though it was a hassle, I was so thankful it was only an inconvenience when it could have easily been a tragedy.  We feel so, so blessed.

Power outage

We lost our power Sunday night so I made dinner by lamplight on Monday.  I was thankful for my gas range which allowed me to light the burners by hand so I could cook.




I have a collection of oil lamps and am always glad to have a reason to put them into use.  We have a woodstove in our living room, which helped keep the house more comfortable.  Clarence got his generator running so we wouldn't lose all the contents of our refrigerator and freezers.  The weather, though very windy, was not terribly cold which would have made things more difficult.  As it was, we had a lot to be thankful for.

After about 24 hours, the power came back on and our pioneer party was over.  It was a long week.

FIAR Moms Reunion

I was thrilled to get to spend a few hours catching up with dear friends today. 

Eleven years ago this month, we had our very first Five in a Row co-op day.  We read Cranberry Thanksgiving and were done by lunchtime.

I remember the kids making bookmarks by stamping them with cut cranberries but my only other memories of that day are of how shy the kids were with each other (of course, I was shy, too) and the thought that this group seemed very promising.

It turned out to be the only group we stayed with all through the years.  We drifted in and out of various other, larger, co-ops but they all paled in comparison to what we had with this group.  It was a good fit in those early months because it expanded on our main curriculum.  It remained a good fit not only because the families all became friends but also because there was a lot of brilliance in the minds of these women below.  They had amazing ideas accompanied by great follow-through and I credit them with making our homeschooling journey not only more successful, but also a whole lot more fun.



 (I'm stealing my friend Cheri's picture since, bad blogger that I am, I didn't even take my camera along.)

As we continued to meet, the ideas expanded and became day-long events each month.  Our planning sessions helped us get to know each other better and become good friends.  We'd often be brainstorming ideas when we should have been heading for home, because we'd spent all the planning time talking and laughing together.  As the kids grew, we moved away from the FIAR curriculum but remained a literature-based group, reading a book each month and doing corresponding activities.  We're down to three families now, but have no plans to give it up yet.

Time moves on, circumstances change, and it had been a few years since we'd all been together.  The idea of a reunion was mentioned and we all managed to make some time today to get together and play catch up.  It's hard to believe the youngest of our kids is now 12-he was just a baby when we met.  The oldest of the group is now a couple years into his enlistment in the Marines.

I am so thankful God brought us together all those years ago.  I left our reunion once again feeling so thankful for the blessing they have each been to me and so happy to have been able to spend a little time with them-just like old times.