The World, My Eyes. Welcome.

Switching to Kwanzaa

2009-12-18T04:31:00.000-08:00

Disclaimer:
If you're easily offended, you may not want to read this.

Why does there have to be so much retardedness about Christmas? People complaining over "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" and don't get them stared about the "Xmas" either. I've recently heard of a company that makes CHRIST-mas trees where the trunk of the tree is in the shape of a cross. Then of course we have the Santa vs. Baby Jesus thing going on. And don't forget, you also have to complain about over commercialism, debt, and people running around too much that the Advent Conspiracy group talks about.
Really?
I love Christmas. I wish I was still young and oblivious this time of year so I didn't know how assinine (yes, the double "s" was on purpose) adults are. This newest thing that I heard about the "Advent Conspiracy" really was the last straw this year. People have so blown Christmas out of proportion (wouldn't be surprised if many in this group were among those) that it looks like they are trying to reinvent the whole holiday. Since we can't control ourselves and keep the right prospective, let's just throw out all the traditions that have happened over the last hundreds of years and make brand new ones! Why could so many people for so many years keep a healthy balance to the season, but we can't? I'm done. All this fighting - and that's what it is if you don't agree with such people - are what ruins my holiday. Heaven forbid if you talk about Santa or reindeer! But don't forget to decorate your house and put up your stockings!
And again I say...
Really?
I'm done with Christmas.
I'm switching to Kwanzaa.

Actual $10 recipes, actually under 30 mins

2009-12-13T18:15:00.000-08:00

You know those recipes that promise "Recipes for under $10" or "Recipes under 30 minutes"? For some reason when I use them, they are always over $10 & 30 mins. Now understandably, we have 8 in our family, however, I can keep a meal at $10 if I'm careful and still feed our family. While some of this has to do with in store deals and whatnot, I have noticed that some if it is portion related as well. I remember going to the family doctor with one of our kids and sharing that my mother was concerned that the child didn't eat enough. The doctor had me hold out her fist and said, "That's how big her stomach is. If what is on her plate is bigger then that, it's too much." Something I never really thought about, but so true. We are over consumers. (but before I go into THAT tantrum, I'll move on :-)
I recently came across these two recipes - if I ever find more like it, I promise to post - and was very excited. One was for a white chicken chili, which I first had at Ruby Tuesday not long ago and LOVED; the second was a beef and noodle recipe I found on the Aldi website (aldi.com) Let me say, Aldi has been a wonderful find for us. If you have one near you, I recommend you try it out. Especially be sure to use their website which has recipes, recipe box and shopping list functions that are awesome! The white chicken chili is made with a white bean, which I believe has a different texture then the red bean (I don't like the red beans) and uses a McCormick seasoning packet (where I got the recipe from). I have added my own notes about the recipe underneath each one.
Hope this is helpful for someone. Please tell me if you try them and what you think! Good luck.

White Chicken Chili www.mccormick.com
Ready in 20 minutes. Chicken, white beans and green chiles in a zesty sauce. Enjoy chili with a burst of fresh flavor!
USAGE
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Makes 4 servings.
You Will Need:
1 pkg. McCormick® White Chicken Chili Seasoning Mix
1 tbsp. oil
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into ½-inch cubes
1 cup water
1 can (15 to 16 oz.) white beans, undrained
Assorted Toppings: Shredded Cheese, Sliced Avocado, Chopped Cilantro or Sour Cream
HEAT oil in large skillet on medium heat. Add chicken; cook and stir 3 to 5 minutes or until no longer pink.
STIR in Seasoning Mix, water and beans. Bring to boil; cover. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve with toppings, if desired.
My Notes:
This was so good, even the kids liked it. Spicier then I expected, so if your kids aren't used to spice you may want to be careful. It really did only take about 20 mins. I was so happy. The chicken breasts I had gotten on sale and it was a bag of frozen chicken breasts. So again, the $10 can be relative to the expense of chicken that week if you are a weekly shopper.

Easy Beef & Noodles
Usage
Egg noodles - 1 pound
Roast beef - 1 pound deli cut
Beef gravy - 1 jar
Salt&Pepper to taste
Cook
Cook noodles as directed. Cut up roast beef into bite size pieces. Put roast beef and gravy in pot to warm up. Serve roast beef/gravy over egg noodles.
My Notes:
Not sure how much this will serve. I add another pound of noodles and jar of gravy and it feeds my family of 8. If you do this recipe when deli roast beef is on sale, it makes it even cheaper. Also, egg noodles and beef gravy are things that I have on hand a lot of the times, and so for me it can just be as cheap as just buying the roast beef.

Cool Old People - I love this picture!

2009-08-03T08:03:00.001-07:00

Being a Mom

2009-07-20T16:59:00.000-07:00

I love being a mom. I mean I really do love being a mom. I enjoyed them as infants, toddlers, preschoolers, elementary schoolers and yes, even middle schoolers. It is so interesting watching and helping them through all their little stages and the issues that come with them. Watching their personalities develop, the humor, the wit, the stubbornness, those who take charge and those who will follow. My older children are becoming some of my dearest friends as well. It melts my heart to see our 2 year old little girl just love on my husband. She is so in love with her daddy! She'll just sit on his lap, her two little fingers in her mouth, playing with her dad's gotee. Or when she rubs my face and tells me she loves me "too much".
Now, do my kids disobey? Not do their homework? Fight with their siblings? Have messy rooms? Absolutely! My kid's poop stinks! But these things do not make me need to get away from them. I do not need a "break". You don't need to "take them off my hands" for a bit. I don't go shopping and leave the kids at home to have a break from them, they don't like going to the store and now that I have one old enough, why make them go? These types of thoughts and comments from people drive me crazy!
Now, those who do not understand God's blessing to His people, I can understand such comments coming from that way. But it's from the Christian crowd that it really takes it to another level. I'm contemplating my new reaction of asking if I can take their home, their cars, their jobs, their money, their retirement or investments "off their hands" for a bit. With all these things that everyone considers a blessing from God...some how the true blessing of a child gets lost. It saddens me to hear parents needing to get away from their children. Some even going to the length of taking a vacation without their children. Now, I'm not looking to "offend", but I will not apologize for my thoughts on this. I don't understand the thought of vacation without your family. Once you have children you are not a couple anymore. Your a few or a bunch, maybe a handful or even 2/3 of a dozen like us. Why would you leave part of yourself behind? Our children enhance all of our experiences in life. From the everyday, to vacation, to church ministry. When our kids are visiting friends or at school and I see something that I know one of them would find hilarious, I wish they were there to hear them laugh. I miss them.
Being a mom is so underrated, and sadly enough it is mostly by women. Recently as I have done schooling and testing to get my real estate license, I actually had a woman tell me I was bettering myself. She thought it was a good thing for my children to see me doing school and passing tests. That somehow I was showing them what someone could do with their life. I thought I was already doing that. I thought that by striving to be the person God intends for me to be and helping and encouraging my children to do the same was pretty well covering a lot of bases. Showing them how a godly marriage works, what a godly woman should be like - both for the girls and the boys. I suppose for some, this just isn't enough. Not a high enough calling for them. It seems their egos must be stroked by men.
God has called me to a great thing. The position of being a mother. He has given us six beautiful blessings to care for and to help make them in the image of Christ. This is not a light or easy task. But I believe it is the greatest. That God has found us worthy to entrust us with children is a humbling fact.

Old Age and Herb Garden Update

2009-06-05T05:18:00.000-07:00

There was a time that I was much more agile and athletic then I am now. I could catch and throw balls. Climb trees. Jump on trampolines. It was an awesome challenge to "play with the boys" - running, pushing, tackling... The bigger and faster the person, the better. Now, a little game of Steal the Flamingo Bacon just puts me out. How can running around throwing balls at teenagers hurt so bad the next day? I can feel it when I breath for pete's sake! For real? This is just ridiculous! :) I have realized however, that I've not lost that competitive side, which I believe helped make me more sore today then I would've been otherwise.
As for my little herb garden. More herbs have popped up over the last 2 days or so. God is still helping water those little suckers. It is very exciting! And a friend has told me about square foot gardening. Very interesting! Check it out for yourself! http://www.squarefootgardening.com/

The Herb Garden

2009-06-02T07:13:00.000-07:00

We recently purchased some little herb seedlings. I am a bit leary of the whole planting thing as I seem to have the nack of killing plants. I even killed a cactus once. So I guess you could say that I have more of a "brown thumb". Someone had suggested to us that a planter would be the way to go and so a quick run to Family Dollar got us a planter and some soil. Iona and I had a great time digging in the dirt, planting and watering our little seeds. We've had a bit of rain since then (this past Thursday I believe we planted) and so it makes me laugh to think God, knowing my inabilities, has been taking care of my little herbs. I was very happy to find little green sprouts in three of our seeded areas and in the fourth area little brown bulbs. We planted things like oregano, cilantro, chives, and...something else. Huh. Anyway, all herbs needing the same amount of sun and water. I am hopeful that in the next two weeks we will be able to harvest a few of our herbs. Maybe someday I'll even be able to keep a vegetable garden! :-)

Day One

Day Five - you can see the green at the bottom of the planter

Growing Up

2009-05-13T07:09:00.000-07:00

I love babies. There is something about them that is so amazing and beautiful and down right yummy! Adding a new little one to our family was always a precious time and I just never seemed to get tired of it. Even with our baby (the last of six) I am still taken by all the things she does. Sometimes you'd think I had never seen a child do the things she's done before. Some how, with each one, it's been different. Their little personalities - alright, BIG personalities - made each experience with them like new. I so enjoyed the baby stage, that I wondered if the toddler stage could possibly be better. I had heard the stories of "terrible twos" and that the 3's weren't "much better". But as our children grew, I found much enjoyment in those stages as well. I thought I'd be upset when it was time to put them on the school bus, but when the time came I was ready for it because they were ready for it. Watching them become more independent has been a great time! Watching their little minds work as new experiences came upon them with their new found "freedoms" away from mom and dad has been awesome. Of course none of these stages are without their troubles and trials. I don't want to paint a picture that is untrue to leave you thinking I'm a delusional parent who thinks their kid's poop doesn't stink. We have some VERY stinky poop in my house, believe me! But nothing has been terrible. I've not dreaded one of the stages the kids have been in. Some have been a little more uncomfortable then others (I still haven't figured out the 1st - 3rd grade stage, that's a mystery) but just not terrible. I was even a little concerned when our oldest got into middle school, but once again, not as painful as I thought. I believe I found a lot more contentment with the stages our kids were in when we had Iona (our now baby). There is a four year difference between her and Liam (the child right above her) and a 10 year difference between Iona and Mackeen (our oldest child). Iona is a very good mixture of all her siblings. Sometimes she looks so much like Mackeen, it's hard not to remember Mack at Iona's age. And boy, does it seem like yesterday! One can't help but realize how quickly time goes when you have a 12 year old and a two year old that is like a clone off the first. Now with Iona's speech becoming better and better we daily become aware at how quickly she too is growing up. She has so much to say from the time she wakes until the time she goes to sleep. And it is amazing stuff! Her imagination is huge, her silliness is really funny, her perceptions are wonderful. One of my favorite things to do is ask her how her day was as I am putting her to bed. So many adventures were had that I didn't even know about! :-) I also love hearing about church. One never knows when she'll relay a story about what happened at church. Just recently I was talking to her and touched her forehead which seemed to remind her of what happens during communion. She told me that "Pastor Dan touches my head like this (making the sign of the cross with her finger on her head) and says "bless you in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost'." Really? I thought. That's awesome. Some time before that we were traveling in the car and she was explaining to me how Vance, our Deacon, says "Alleluia! Alleluia!" Again I was thinking, does he? When does he do that? It took be just a second to remember and said to her, "Yes he says 'Let us go forth to love and serve the Lord! Alleluia! Alleluia!'" And Iona nodded in agreement. So beautiful. She is just so beautiful! It is wonderful seeing her grow not just in her wit, imagination and speech but also in the faith. She's not just singing the little songs "my God is so BIG", she's also taking in things from the "big service". As I watch her and Mackeen together I can't help but think how quickly she'll be Mack's age. How very soon she will be in youth group, asking youth group type questions. She'll be coming home telling me how screwed up some of the kids are at school and how she's invited them to church. At least that's been the experience with our children so far. With this knowledge I never wish them to be older. I am trying to be sure I don't get too busy with my day. The laundry will always be there. There will always be dirty dishes or grass to be mowed. But tomorrow my kids will be older then they are today.

Real Estate Agent, really?

2009-05-09T05:09:00.000-07:00

On Monday I'll officially have an activated real estate license. I went for an "interview" of sorts yesterday and the offer from the company and the atmosphere of the office, were both just too good to pass up. I am extremely excited! however I do find myself wondering if I really know enough to sell a house. Do I know anything? I believe that it is the short amount of time spent in real estate school that makes me think I can't possibly understand the subject. (obviously passing the school & state tests disprove this thought) It's not until I talk with another agent and they're saying all this real estate mumbo jumbo, that I realize I DO know this stuff. I can't explain the strangeness of it all. I find a bit of humor in me being an agent. (however I also find humor in the amount of children God gave me. actually, that He entrusted me with ANY is quite humorous!) Anyway, so much to do today. I can't wait to post that I sold (or listed) my first house!

Proactiv - Day 11

2009-05-04T04:14:00.001-07:00

Well, on day 11 here's where we stand. Proactiv seems to be a good product, however it is not affecting whatever it is that is on my face. On the parts of my face that are normal, it gave me no problems at all. I did stop using Proactiv almost 1 week ago because the "rash" had gotten very irritated. It became very dry and flaky. I was hoping this was a sign that this "rash" was going away but as soon as the flaky went away, I could still see the rash. I am hoping that the Dr. and I can resolve the rash situation. Once that is settled I will go back to the Proactive to give it a more fair chance.

Real Estate, TV Ban & Lent - An update!

2009-04-27T04:14:00.000-07:00

Well, after writing my last post I realized there are a few things I've not given a final update on that I said I would. So here goes...
REAL ESTATE: I did pass J. Y. Monk's Real Estate school on the first try. I was very excited! The test was 110 questions and I got a 98%. Very cool. I should have gone through the rest of the process right away - order my background check, send in my info, sign up to take the state test - but honestly it all costs money and the time just got away from me. I finally completed all these things and took the state exam March 24. I failed. I was disappointed, however it was at the end of the week I was on Vicodin and so studying really didn't happen. I had to wait at least 10 days to take the test again (so say the rules) and so I did that on April 15th and passed that sucker! :-) I was sooooo nervous! I covered my eyes while the computer processed my worked so it could give me my grade. I thought I was going to throw up! You have to pay to take the test every time. I didn't really want to pay the $96 again. It is such a relief to be done with all of that - the studying and testing. Now it is off to find a job. Still trying to wait out the face rash as I said in the previous post. It's really not attractive. I'll keep you posted.
TV BAN: Well, it is fine. Great even. I believe we are staying with no cable. This will be our first summer without TV. That may be interesting... However, with a big yard, a pool, a large trampoline, camp for everyone and traveling we may be ok. Great even. :-) I would absolutely recommend giving this experiment a try in your own home.
LENT: We obviously are at the end of Lent season, so how did everyone fair? The kids did great and Friday video game day is back. Which means Sunday Family Nap Day can begin again. YEA! :-) Mack did very well staying to her only water drinking too. Joel's back is better, however he is sleeping on the couch now. Which is horrible, however it's better for his back then our bed. My ankle is not swollen any more and I don't have constant pain. I don't have full use of it yet - still can't run around, jump on the trampoline, put all my weight on it, etc. - but it is better. I am wondering if there is some minor damage to it because of the length of time and fierceness of the swelling. I believe it's nothing that some strengthening exercises can't fix. I also found out during this time that I have low iron levels. Not quit anemic, just lower. So I started taking iron. I'm interested to see if that helps my feelings of tiredness.
I think that's about it. Wow I really need to keep up with these things! I'll try to be better. Well, my gorgeous baby just woke up. Looks like my day has started.

Proactiv - Day 4

2009-04-27T03:57:00.000-07:00

So I have this, thing on my face. I (and the Dr.) are not quite sure what it is and have been trying a few different things in hopes to get rid of it. It is a rash that has mainly popped up around my mouth and one the bridge of my nose. There are little bumps and some bigger ones. Anyway, someone suggested Proactiv and my Dr. agreed it'd be a good try - because it kills bacteria. My first 2 days with it were great. I was only using it once a day, in the morning, with the facial mask at night. It did not irritate my skin, not even the area with the rash. It even helped to take away the itch. Now yesterday (day 3) I got discouraged because I did the process at night and my skin was very irritated. It burned and was itchy so I did not do the facial mask. I realized this morning that the problem may have been that I did the cleaning process twice yesterday by accident. Hmm...yeah, I need to stay on top of that. So I think I will not do the process this morning and just wait until Wednesday morning. They do warn about all of this in the Proactive directions, so I am not discouraged with the product. I will give it the full month before I make my decision. I wish it would work faster as I've had this rash for about a month now and it is keeping me from job hunting. I will try to keep a post on this system.

Anniversary wishes from a 2 year old.

2009-04-01T06:35:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to post this and time got away from me. All the kids were wishing us a "Happy Anniversary" (March 16th) and so Iona - our 2 year old - had to join in with her own congratulations, "Happy Addanursery!" Oh she has no idea how right she is. Within our first 6 years of marriage we added a nursery 5 times. :-) Out of the mouth of babes...

Lent: Day # I'm not sure. 13 left to go.

2009-03-31T08:23:00.000-07:00

As I said in my previous post, my Lenten discipline was not going so well. Waking at the 5:30am time was becoming more difficult as the days went on.
So about three weeks ago I woke in the morning with a mild pain in my left ankle. During the next few days the pain progressed and by the end of the week had started to swell. This had happened to me once or twice before. I figured that I'd have a slight limp for about a week as the pain was annoying enough to cause one and then the pain would lessen, no big deal. Well, as I started my second week of pain (and now swelling) everything got worse then it had been before so that by the end of the week I could barely walk on it. My ankle had swollen so much that we referred to it as a "Kankle" and the swelling spread down in to my toes and up in to my calf. It was ugly. Sleeping eluded me every night because anything that touched my leg would make it feel worse. So the normal prescription for a swollen ankle of elevating it above my heart to help the swelling go down, was not happening. I couldn't lay it down on the bed. On Saturday I finally broke down and borrowed a set of crutches from our friends. This made it easier to move around (or not as I did fall with them twice) but I was still in a lot of pain. Now I'm in to my third week and thankfully the swelling has almost completely gone down. I still don't have full use of it and will still get sharp pains in my ankle and up in to my leg. Starting at the beginning of this week the arch of my foot started to hurt a great deal, so much that yesterday I reluctantly picked up those crutches again. And to make everything easier at home, during this whole time Joel, my husband, somehow threw out his back. We both were on pain killers and anti-inflammatory stuff. We were quite the site together. Someone at church asked what happened and I said, "I kicked Joel's butt, so he body slammed me. But we worked everything out, so it's all good now."
Joel has said of all of this, that maybe God is picking out what we need to suffer with this Lenten season. I tend to think...he's right.

Lent

2009-02-27T05:26:00.001-08:00

So day 3 in the Lenten season and my discipline is not going quite as planned. I am supposed to be waking early so as to get a head start on the day. I've been having terrible nights sleep for quite some time now, and it seems to be even worse now that I have to wake up earlier. What a fusser I am to be tired and not want to get up. It the season of remembering Christ's suffering, I am remembering my fuss and laziness. What a simple thing, to wake up early, in comparison to all He went through for me. I guess that is the point in all of this though. Every day I am reminded of my own depravity as I struggle to wake in the morning.
I have enjoyed listening to the kids talking about what they are giving up - video games for most of them. On day 3 they are still excited about it. They'll realized the suffer part soon enough.

What did you say?

2009-02-07T08:47:00.000-08:00

I love it when children are learning to talk. The innocence of the 2 year old who just can't pronounce things correctly or the elementary school child who obviously didn't hear something quite right. Iona's newest words that I've noticed are "tamamas" for the word pajamas and then the word scratch has taken on a peculiar sound. It sounds quite a lot like she's dropping the f-bomb. :-) We've asked her to repeat it a few times all to be confirmed that she most assuredly is dropping the bomb! We're still not sure how that is what she hears, but it sure makes it interesting when she asks to scratch your back! ;-)

Our cat = preying vulture

2009-01-30T05:49:00.000-08:00

Upon coming home after picking the girls up from chorus practice, I saw this on our roof. None of the kids saw it and I didn't say anything until Maelisa was right at the door. I calmly told her to look up to which she did and prompt jumped back. They all laughed hard. I was able to get him down. Still not sure how he got up there. He's not sure how he got up there even!

Day 25. No TV Update.

2008-12-07T13:20:00.000-08:00

It's not that big of a deal. Thought it would be, but it's not. I said I'd give the update, so here it is. :-) House isn't cleaner, but life has gotten busier too. Kids don't complain about it which is cool. More playing outside when it's not cold, or playing with toys or even some pretend play! Didn't know they still knew how to do that! :-) Just kidding, they've got some pretty crazy imaginations. Not sure where they'd get that from. ;-)

I Love Rock N Roll

2008-11-29T06:37:00.000-08:00

The actual lyrics "I love rock n roll. Put another dime in the juke box baby!"
What Darby hears "I love rock n roll. Steppin outside with a juice box baby!"

Mary Poppins I am not.

2008-11-20T10:26:00.000-08:00

I walked into my kitchen today and said, "How does this happen?" The kitchen is always a mess which makes me even less prone to clean it, which makes it messier...it's a HUGE ugly circle. I also was reminded of the 3 baskets of laundry, plus a load dry in the dryer and another sitting in the washer waiting to go. "How does this happen?" I just did laundry! I can never get it washed and away in enough time to go a few days before there's more. Never mind the kids rooms. I have on way too many occasions to count, given them a "fresh start" shall we say and in a matter of 2 days, it's gone again. Now, the boys aren't so bad, but I'm pretty sure Liam's OCD so that helps. :-) I wish I was Mary Poppins so that I could just start picking up a few things while I'm singing and then the rest just goes back to where it belongs by itself. However with my luck, my singing would just wreak such havoc, the house would be worse then when I started!

Day 2. No TV.

2008-11-11T07:59:00.000-08:00

So Joel and I decided to get rid of our cable. I know people do live without cable, but I've always found ya'll crazy! Quite honestly, I like the quiet zombiness that the tv brings sometimes. It's not that we think tv is "evil" or whatnot, we just know we need a change of focus in our house. Also, we do still have internet and Netflix. We're not going no media, just no cable. We'll see how this works.
Day one went pretty well for the younger ones. The oldest wasn't very excited, however she didn't give much room for me to be able to explain. Day two seems to be rolling along better then yesterday. - Veterans Day so all the kids are home. - Even the oldest, now with a better understanding, is doing well.
Our laundry actually got folded by the two oldest and it looks really good. It's amazing what they'll do when tv isn't an option! I could get used to this...

"Stupid dog. You make me look bad!"

2008-11-07T08:25:00.000-08:00

So has anyone seen the show on Cartoon network called Courage the Cowardly Dog? I think I used to like it, but now it just drives me nuts. However, the old man in the show frequently says to the dog, "Stupid dog. You make me look bad!" This I still find funny and having my own dog, say it myself.

When shopping this past week I needed to pick up some more dog food. Our normal brand (Purina Dog Chow) was about $13 which I wasn't happy about and so opted for a different kind (Purina Alpo Grrravvy) which was about $11. - hey, right now $2 is $2 - So never having used this kind before when I got home I was looking over the bag, reading it and such. The front says "wet or dry". Now I was positive that was referring to the way you could give the food to your dog, but apparently it also refers to your dog's poop. I have been adding water to the food, thus making a gravy type substance, because I thought I'd be a nice treat for the dog. However this seems to have made his poop a gravy type substance as well as I was woken at 3:50am today with my dog freaking out and poop all over my room. (keep in mind that any consistency of poop in any amount in my bedroom at 3:50am would still be "all over" the place.) Oh, and when I got him out of my bedroom he then pooped in the living room which is completely hard wood except for the area rug in the very center, so guess where he pooped. ON THE RUG! Oh yes, I LOVED that!

All I can say is, gggrrr Grrravvvyyy!

Adult school. High School. What's the difference?

2008-11-07T08:00:00.000-08:00

So I'm taking real estate classes. I love them. It's a six week course and I'm going three nights a week from 6-10pm. It's a lot of cramming info in a short amount of time. My teacher, he is awesome. About 65, married for 42 years, a few grandkids, has the white hair, and the belly. Yeah, he's cool. (check out Reference Post blog #8 ) I think I'm doing ok. I feel like I am grasping the concepts, etc. Here is a HUGE difference for me. I hated high school. However, this is the only difference I have found between adult school and high school.

Here's where it is much the same. So you have those sweet girls. You know, the ones that will listen to you when you're confused or exasperated. You've got the quite boy. Then there's the one that just doesn't get what the teacher is saying and asks a lot of questions. (which now I find helpful because it just gives another time to hear the info again. something I would not have appreciated in high school.) Then there's the goof offs. - then they wonder why they're not getting it. Then we get down to my favorites. The "pretty girls", who as adults are still stuck up and jerky. The brown noser, who laughs at way to much of what the teacher says and has to get everything right so looks through the book/workbook before they answer anything instead of giving and answer on what they remember. How does he know what to study more then? I just don't get it. Ok, then there's the guy that knows the answer - most of the time first - and shouts it out in class. Funny thing is, he's taking the class AGAIN. It's not that he's smart, it's that he's heard it all before. He annoys me. And probably my favorite...let's call him the slacker. I'd say "drugy", but I don't believe this guy's doing drugs... So he asks this question one night (bare with me, i'll try to explain quickly and fully)-
We were learning about liens. Now there is a type of lien called a Judgment Lien in which someone has a right to collect a debt you own them and they have taken this to court so this lien can last for up to 10 years. This lien also is on EVERYTHING you own. Ok, so the slacker says, "Say someone has a Judgment lien on me and the 10 years is up and I try to get a mortgage for a house. Will that keep me from being able to get a mortgage?" hahaha! Why didn't he just say, "So I have this friend...." hahahaha! Well, I found it hilarious!

I just can't say enough how much fun all this real estate stuff is. I am really enjoying myself and love learning everything. I'm hoping that this is my advantage over the people who are taking this class a second time through cuz they didn't pass that first time! We shall see. I'll keep you posted.

Reference Post

2008-11-06T11:50:00.001-08:00

This is my "Reference Post". So you may say, "What is such a post and why do you need one?" Well a reference post is the thing that I may refer you to in the case of later posts that I think may cause you to go, "Aaahhh! I can't believe she just said that!" This "Reference Post" will explain to you why I said what I did.

1. I was raised by old parents. Now you may think that you're parents are old as well, however my father was only about 2 years younger then my husband's grandfather. I believe that this may have given me an old person's view on things. I also asked much of my parenting advice from my mother, my husband's mother and my husband's grandmother. So here's what I find from those things. I often find myself saying, "What is wrong with these young mothers now a days?" (keep in mind more often then not, these women are around my age with a 5 year difference either way) Also, I see no use in the psycho babble crap in the books, magazines, tv shows or internet sites that tell women , "How to be a better...."
2. For lack of a better way to say this, I am a male chauvinist. Geez, I could write about this forever, so I'm just going to leave it at that.
3. My husband, Joel, and I got married at 20. We had 5 babies in 6 years, then four years later had #6. So our children were born '96, '98, '00, '01, '02 & '06.
4. Joel is a Pastor's son. When we got married we moved in with his parents. I consider this the time I started in ministry. If you're the daughter-in-law of a Pastor, and attend the same church your father-in-law pastors then you understand what I'm saying. (that would be since 1996)
5. I have this love for Africa I'm not sure what to do with. (I'm sure this will come up at some point.
6. I'd love to adopt some kids.
7. I use the word "retarded". I try not to, really I do. I would never want to offend someone in that way. Never would I use it in reference to some one who is disabled, please understand. So I use it in this way, when some one is so completely an IDIOT!, then they are retarded. See what I mean?
8. I love old people. Especially men. They're awesome.

I believe this is a pretty good sum up. At this time of post I am a stay a home mom. I care of a friend's baby during the week. I am enrolled in real estate classes that I love (hopefully six weeks from this post I'll be telling you I passed my test). Joel is the Director of Family Ministries at an Anglican church in NC. We love it there! check them out: www.tcota.org Hope you enjoy. Welcome to my world!