Our life is just a rollercoaster, hold on tight because falling off is not an option.
that it’s Boy’s birthday.
(and I will post something more fulfilling this week) but he doesn’t have class today and so is enjoying a room full of his friends and a grand Dungeons and Dragons adventure.
They have been going on for about 5 hours at this point and have another 4 to go.
Ten months have come and gone.
This morning we are taking Datter to the airport to start her journey home. (It will take her nearly 24 hours to reach her house.)
She was a great girl and really seemed to enjoy her time in the States. In fact she’s planning on coming back next summer for a visit (though we think her boyfriend may be the driving factor for that trip) and when she does, she says she’s going to stay with us again.
It’s been a year of ups and downs (living with any 16 year old girl is a life of ups and downs - IMO), but we will miss her presence and come the Fall, when Boy goes back to college, the house is going to seem very, very quiet.
At this point we are done hosting. It hasn’t been our experience with Datter, but our experience with the local coordinator. The EF coordinator is suppose to contact us at least once a month to check in. At the beginning, she also talked about planning group activities once a month for all the local exchange kids to get together.
The only group activity was the Christmas Party that we hosted.
And she went weeks and weeks without contacting us - I’m talking 6 to 12 weeks at a time.
And complicating that, she didn’t return our phone calls or emails. And that did cause some problems during the year.
Oh well. Datter is packed and heading out the door.
And I’m doing leatherwork again!!
This picture is one I’ve had since I was a kid, and I’ve always wanted to carve it, but was never sure what to put it on.
I finally found it. This is going to be a bowl for Step-mom (and a belated birthday present for her.)
Next on the list is a another mug, this time for Girl.
We’re meeting with the realtor to put in an offer on a house. It is low, but we have our fingers crossed.
Don’t know if it will work, but if we don’t try it we’ll never know.
Well, no. It’s later than that now. But most Saturday mornings I’m not out of the house at 8 AM, let alone any time earlier than that.
This morning was different because I dropped Girl off to take the SAT Subject test in Biology, and she needed to be there before 7:45 AM (prop up eyelid.) So, I got to be downtown (such as it is) at 8 AM.
And after walking her to the line to go in (she DIDN’T want me to wait with her), I then went and picked up Square Donuts for Hubby and Boy, stopped at the hardware store for some supplies to fix a couple of things before my inlaws visit in a couple of weeks, and visited the opening day at the Farmers Market.
The Farmers Market that I have never made it to before. I’ve wanted to check it out, but Saturdays are my lazy mornings and so I never seem to get out of the house in time to make it. It was about what I expected (esp. for this time of year), but I got to visit with a few friends and picked up this delish looking chocolate ganach cake from a local bakery (one of the friends I saw). I even saw another friend (ex-homeschooler, her youngest is older than Boy) that I haven’t seen since we were in New Mexico. We cross paths constantly and have many common friends (who aren’t homeschoolers), but hadn’t run into each other in the last 4 years.
In my running around, I also got trained.
For anyone looking at the word and scratching their head, that’s short hand for “got stopped by a train crossing the road.”
Indiana and Illinois have the highest percent of on-grade road crossings per mile of track of anywhere in the US. Terre Haute is even worst because we have a switch yard that is actually inside the city limits. If you are driving from one side of town to the other, you’ll have to cross numerous tracks (especially when you go east/west) and getting stopped by a train is common.
In fact it’s an acceptable excuse for being late to almost any activity. There’s some law in Indiana that fines the train companies if they block the roads for more than ~ 7 mins. at any one time and the companies actually budget 100’s of 1000’s of dollars to pay them. Crazy, but part of life here.
Needless to say, I’ve spent a lot of time staring at freight cars as I’ve waited. But this train had something a little different.
It’s not unusual to see the boxes from 18 wheelers piled on flat bed cars go by, but they are usually generic boxes or obviously owned by the train company and used only to make handling freight easier.
This time the boxes were from trucking companies (Xtra, J.B. Hunt, and UPS to name a few) that must have decided that the trains were cheaper than using tracker trailers. Some of them even still had their trailers (the wheels and stuff) still attached and had just been loaded that way.
Made me wonder if the current high gas prices (around here they’ve jumped nearly a dollar this week) are causing the change, or if the train companies are slashing what they charge in order to keep their stock rolling.
I saw this and thought it looked interesting, and for some reason I haven’t done any memes in awhile.
Book Meme
1. What author do you own the most books by?
After checking my shelves (and for this I’m only checking “my” books)
I have 28 books by Issac Asimov (if you include the trilogy written after his death to finish Foundation) - Yes, Teresa, I’m THAT much of a fan.
And the next closest is 22 by Roger Zelazny, but some of those are set aside for Boy to decide if he wants any of them. I’m ready to unload anything aside from the Chronicles of Amber Series
2. What book do you own the most copies of?
I’m not into multiple copies, but I suppose that 2 copies of Interview of the Vampire (One was Hubby’s but has been sitting on my shelves for years) would be the most.
Hmm, we may still have two copies of Logan’s Run floating around - both the first of the stories and then the complete trilogy. I keep thinking we’ll get rid of the first book, but we never seem to be able to lay our hands on both of them at the same time. And these days those books may be in Boy’s room anyway.
We do have a volume of the Complete Shakespeare Plays as well as some as individual paperbacks, so I suppose they count to.
3. Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions?
They did? (goes back and checks) I guess they did, I didn’t even noticed.
4. What fictional character are you secretly in love with?
I get quite attached to the main character of whatever I’m reading, but I’ve had a 30 year crush on Count St. Germain
so I guess I’d have to list him.
5. What book have you read the most times in your life?
I’m not sure. I’ve read Watership Down and I am Legend numerous times. But there are other books I’ve also reread (esp. when they are beginnings of series), so I’m not sure if I have a definitive answer.
6. Favorite book as a ten year old?
Would probably have to be the Black Stallion series.
7. What is the worst book you’ve read in the past year?
I don’t know if it’s the worst that I’ve started (but not finished because of loosing interest) or the worst that I’ve actually read the entire book… Have to come back to this one.
hmm, One that I finished but wasn’t great was Murder of Angels and I started Brian Herbert’s Race to God, but it didn’t keep my attention - which was a pity because the note at the front was fascinating.
8. What is the best book you’ve read in the past year?
Luckily, I have my handy list for the last 5 months…. blah. I don’t know. I tend to fly through books and I’m not sure I could pick the “best” of the past year. I’m not even sure I could tell you everything I read in the last 12 months.
9. If you could force everyone you know to read one book, what would it be?
I’ve been know to cherry-pick particular books and hand them to friends and family, but I can’t think of something I’d tell everyone they should read.
10. What book would you most like to see made into a movie?
Easy - Eragon by Paolini. And don’t try to tell that they did it already, because they haven’t (in fact in our house it’s referred to as the book that would make a great movie is someone would actually care to do it.)
11. What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read?
Books are difficult? I’m not sure what that is asking. I’ve certainly read long books, and dry stories, but I don’t consider that difficult.
12. What is your favorite book?
I’m not sure I have a favorite. Shoot, I’d be hard pressed to decide on my favorite author, but let’s give that a try. How about these two?
Connie Willis - I LOVE how she works real math and science into her stories, I just wish she’d write something else soon.
Sharon Shinn - What can I say, I buy her books in HARD COVER. I can’t wait.
13. Play?
To read or see? I’m not sure I have a favorite to read. To see could be almost anything - I just like seeing plays.
14. Poem?
I’m not into poetry, so I have no idea who/which poem I’d go with. Frost? TS Eliot?
15. Essay
Essays are meant to be read and contemplated. I have no idea what I’d consider a “favorite.”
16. Who is the most overrated writer alive today?
James Patterson. I’ve only read the one, but it was more than enough.
17. What is your desert island book?
A desert Island Book? Meaning if I could take one and only one book, what would it be? How about the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy?
18. And . . . what are you reading right now?
Sepulchre by Kate Mosse 
I read Labyrinth and enjoyed it, but I’ve barely gotten into this one.
And there you have it! I think I may have avoided nearly half the questions, but they were fun to think about.
Let me know if you decide to play along!
LOL - so glad you asked.
With being in high school this year, Girl has added more volunteering to her activities. She already volunteered at the local library - both during the school year and over the summer - but we felt it was time to add to it.
After hunting around (for longer than it should have taken) she settled on the local humane shelter. Only to find out that they required any volunteers to be accompanied by a parent if they weren’t 16 - so they got both of us instead of just her.
Then we had to go through “training” which consisted of an overview meeting with the head of volunteers and then individual “training” for whatever particular area we wanted to help out in.
So, after looking over the choices, Girl and I decided on Cat Care, Photography (which needs two people), and Dog Care. And then we had to schedule the training times.
Photography was easy. The volunteer in charge already had a training time set up the following week. What the deal is, is that they post pictures of the cats and dogs on Petfinder and it helps other people see what’s available without coming to the shelter. And not just Joe Public. They also use it for rescue groups and for shelters that are in areas that don’t have many strays (spay/neuter laws are enforced) and will arrange for the animals to be shipped in to fill their shelters.
And actually that’s one thing that makes this shelter kind of neat. Because they ship out so many animals (volunteers drive them to where ever they are going) they put down very few animals. They claim their rate is about 5% while the national average is up around 70% and we’ve certainly seen animals hang around for months waiting for a home.
This dog is Martin and we took his picture right after Easter and he only found a home this week.
Cat care was the choice that Girl wanted and we simply had to call and then come in to be trained. Doing Cat care consists mostly of getting the cats out and playing with them. (Including the littlest kittens that the public are not suppose to handle.) And while we’re doing that, cleaning cages and litter pans. Cat care also occasionally involves cleaning puppy pens as well.
Dog care is taking each dog out to the outside areas to have some time to run, poop, and play with people. We weren’t really interested in it, aside from how much it overlapped getting them out to take pictures.
So, since the end of March, Girl and I have been at the shelter a couple of times a week. Once to play with the cats (and clean) and once to take pictures of the dogs. I’m afraid that other than Girl’s cell phone, we don’t have any pictures of the cute kittens, but here are some of our shots of the dogs (the little puppies are taken by someone else).
Yes, they are adorable. And yes, it’s hard NOT to bring one home.
This guy is my current favorite. 
He came in last week (given up by his unemployed owner) and he was just shaking and scared. I spent nearly 30 mins just trying to get him to take treats out of my hands. This week he’s still pretty timid, but not quite so bad and I actually got him to stand up and move around a bit (though he still won’t let me put a leash on him and bring him out.)
NEW!!!! DVD: Pat Miller Teaches Basic Good Manners Class
This is a 4-disc set, 8 hours, of Pat Miller teaching a real-life 7-week basic Good Manners (clicker) class at Peaceable Paws. Cost is $55 plus shipping and handling ($3 in the US, contact us for shipping outside the US).
They are not even up on our website yet, and they are already going fast!!!
You can order through PayPal - send your $58 payment to Rafiki500@aol.com.
Or you can mail your check for $58 to:
Peaceable Paws
Good Manners Video
PO Box 3146
Hagerstown, MD 21741,
or order over the phone with a credit card at: 301-582-9420
Just so you know, quality is a little less than we would like it - there’s some camera jiggle,and focus is somewhat fuzzy, but we wanted to keep it to 4 discs (instead of 8!) to keep it affordable.
If you have questions before you order, e-mail us at: peaecablepaws3@earthlink.net
Thanks, and enjoy!
Pat Miller, CPDT, CDBC
Peaceable Paws LLC, Fairplay, MD: www.peaceablepaws.com
“Fostering harmony between the human and non-human animals of our world”
We Click!
