Solitude.

Abbie's two friends, sisters Kori and Kelce, spent the night last night. Before it got dark, they went down to play in the river and took the camera with them. Here's my favorite shot of the night:

I looks so peaceful. I'd like to take a beach chair down there and set up camp right on that rock.

Maybe in my next life.

Be thankful ~

Karen

PhotoHunt: Public

This was a hard one, not because I didn't have a photo that represented the theme well, but because I had too many to choose from. I thought about the one of Abbie next to the "fun-size" potty in the public playground's rest room obviously designed for little children . . . or the one of our 18 inches of snow last winter (snow is a pretty public event—like rain, it falls on the just and the unjust) . . . but finally settled on this one:

A Mexican restaurant, written in Chinese, in our nation's capital. That just about sums up "public" in America.

Be thankful ~

Karen

If looks could kill.

Have you ever heard that joke, "Sometimes I wake up grumpy. Sometimes I let him sleep"?

Sticky Bean has had a cold the past few days, and it might have an adverse affect on his mood. At breakfast this morning:

If he could talk he would be saying, "Just give me the stupid muffin and quit with the camera."

Be thankful ~

Karen

Woe is me. Or, which went bad first, the chicken or the egg?

My refrigerator is dying.

We began to notice a few weeks ago that the milk wasn't quite as cold as it once was, and at the same time I realized the milk was going bad quickly, a problem we've never had since there are enough of us drinking it to go through a gallon of milk in just a couple of days.

Then Leah left for the summer, Abbie went to work full-time, Elijah went off to work at the Boy Scout Jamboree, and the milk sat. And curdled.

A few days ago, Abbie voiced a more vehement protest, and Ben agreed it was time for a new fridge.

I went to the library to read what Consumer Reports had to say, measured the space it would have to fit in, and went to Lowe's and Best Buy. Can I just say I'm horrified at the prices? And the sizes? I really like that $2500 French-door bottom-mount model, but I'd have to knock out the back wall and put on an addition to fit it in here. And really, I only pay $2500 for things I can drive.

Ben and I have a date Saturday to go pick out a new one.

So this morning I made myself a bowl of Cracklin' Oat Bran (crunchy happiness in a box) and got out the jug of milk. I hesitated before I started pouring though, and it's a good thing I did. Something didn't smell quite right. I poured a mouthful into a cup and took a swig. And spit it in the sink.

And because I'm trying to lose some of last winter's fat before this winter hits and I start the sitting/feasting cycle all over again, I decided to make myself a scrambled egg (one) and a piece of whole wheat toast (one). When it was ready I grabbed the orange juice.

I don't know what made me think the orange juice would be any colder than the milk, seeing as how they share the same shelf in our failing appliance, but I  poured myself a big glass. Let me assure you that warm OJ doesn't rate much higher on the I-can-barely-stomach-this-in-the-morning scale than warm, curdled milk.

I wonder how soon the new fridge can be delivered?

Be thankful ~

Karen

The three-hour tour that turned into a sunburn.

I realize it could have been worse. We could have been shipwrecked on an uncharted island with a millionaire and his airhead wife, etc. etc. Can you sing the whole song? Here it is in case you need a reminder.



It really turned out to be a great day. Abbie and I drove two hours to get on the Chesapeake Breeze, the ferry that would take us to Tangier Island.

Now comes the obvious question: Karen, why is the picture so fuzzy?

I am very sorry to report that we went on this lovely adventure with no camera. I repeat: no camera. All photos in this post are taken with cell phones. You're welcome.

The trip across the bay was nice and relaxing. We sat on the top deck enjoying the sun and breeze.

I stared at the shore as long as I could see it to keep myself from getting seasick. I've never actually been seasick, but since I can't do roller coasters anymore without feeling green, I have this dread that it's going to sneak up on me and leave me heaving over the stern. So I stared at the shore. No heaving occurred.

We got to Tangier around 11:30 and took the golf-cart tour of the island. It is 5 miles long and 1.5 miles wide. 75% is marsh and uninhabitable but still considered part of the island. There are fewer than 500 residents. The industry is crabbing, (or you could be a waitress at one of the three restaurants, or dip ice cream at Spanky's) and Tangier is known as the Soft-Shell Crab Capital of the World. If you want to know what a soft-shell crab is, read this.

Here are the crab shacks we passed on the way out.

Our golf-cart tour took 15 minutes (there's not much to see). We went to Lorraine's, one of the three restaurants, and had an awesome crab cake sandwich served by Lorraine herself. Toured the museum, which is about as big as my living room, and then had an hour to kill before the ferry left for home. So we decided to walk toward the beach, which we had passed on our golf cart. We got about 20 minutes out when we realized we would never get there and back in time, and since the next ferry didn't leave the island until the next day, we figured we'd better make this one. We kept walking on the only road, and wound up going all the way around the island. It took about 25 minutes.

They have one school, grades K-12. 80 students total. 

Stopped at Spanky's for a frozen fruit bar and got back on the ferry. This time we found the best seats in the house.

Unfortunately, we were already feeling crispy, so we went down the side (I imagine there's a nautical name for that, but it escapes me at the moment) and sat in the shade for the ride home. You know, when you're feeling crispy, it's too late.

It was a great day in spite of the lack of camera and sunscreen that doesn't make my eyes water. Not bad for a three-hour tour.

Be thankful ~

Karen

In which there was no mention at all of the heat. Not one little bit.

Well, it's been a good day. That always reminds me of the John Denver song where he sings,"I have to say it now, it's been a good life all in all, it's really fine to have a chance to hang around." Except that we did much more than just hang around today.

I will spare you the complaining about the heat. Unless you live in Monterey, California, where it's 70 and sunny every day, and you write home to ask your mother to send you jeans and sweatshirts, you were probably miserable today too. (But just in case you were wondering, it was 101 in Northern Virginia today, with a heat index of 117. But I'm not complaining. No sireee. Not me. I am being EVER SO THANKFUL for my air conditioning, even though I got my $250 electric bill on THIS VERY DAY. Does God have a sense of humor, or what?)

Anyway, Ben slept in this morning. Until 4:45. Did his reading, and by 7 am was chomping at the bit to get outside and get the work done before the heat hit. HA. At 7 am it was already 90. At 7:30 he couldn't wait any longer, and despite the fact that the entire neighborhood was still asleep, he fired up the wood splitter. Can you imagine? Cutting firewood when it's over 100 degrees? But boy, next winter when our neighbors are paying their $400 heat bills, I will be toasty warm by the FREE fire. I can't even make my brain go there right now.

At 9:30 I dragged my sorry self out to the garden to pick beans, and shortly after that Ben started picking tomatoes. He brought laundry baskets of them in to Abbie, who was in the kitchen washing them. She stopped counting at 220, not including the 2 gallons of grape tomatoes. We were in the house by 11:30 to ride out the heat wave.

While I ironed shirts, Ben blanched all the tomatoes, then he and I slipped the skins and cut them up into pots, which are now sitting in the refrigerator, waiting to be canned. While we were doing that, Abbie was making angeled eggs (sanctified deviled eggs) for our picnic tonight, and somewhere in there I also made a pan of blonde brownies and worked for an  hour.

Then Ben and I went to our church's leadership picnic (many thanks to the guys who stood outside in the blazing heat and cooked burgers!), where we ate in the basement because it was the coolest place in the house, even with the A/C going like gangbusters.

Now we are home and enjoying the ceiling fans and did I mention THANKING GOD for the invention of air conditioning?

Tomorrow we get a break from the heat. It's only going to be 100.

Be thankful ~

Karen

PhotoHunt: Hanging

Man-boy and I saw this a while back. We wanted to stay and watch the whole process, but we were late for some important-at-the-time thing.

And just in case you wanted to see the finished product, this is what we saw when we were coming home a few hours later:

Be thankful ~

Karen

Blog fodder from the pool.

This morning I go up ready to work all day on a specific project. I ended up working an hour and a half, doing some errands, canning 10 quarts of tomatoes, and getting dragged to the pool by Abbie. Yeah, that's it. She dragged me. I can blame it on her.

Anyway, since it was way too hot to be anywhere but in the water, I was sitting on the edge enjoying the time off, when I heard a little voice saying, "Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!" etc., ad nauseam. When I finally realized the voice was talking to me, I looked up at a little girl who said, "Watch this!"

I can't tell you how long it's been since a little voice said (to ME!) "Watch this!" So I watched while she did a very impressive underwater squirm that I think was supposed to be a somersault. When she came back up, she said, "I'm five, but I'm really six," to which I replied, "Yeah, I'm 29 but I'm really 48." It was the heat.

Then not two minutes later a little boy asked his sister if he could use the gargles. And again, the heat. I laughed.

Finally, as we were leaving, I spied this sign on the fence:

Obviously, the term "parents" is used loosely.

Be thankful ~

Karen

Five things you didn't want to know.

I have no idea what made me think of this (maybe that's six weird things about me), but here it is.

1. I don't like TV. I can't make myself watch it, other than Say Yes to the Dress once in a while. For some strange reason, that show really entertains me. Maybe it's the thought of women spending 5 or 8 or 10 thousand dollars on a dress to wear for five hours. I once watched a woman fall in love with a $12,000 Pnina Tornai. Seriously! Can you drive it?

2. Menopause has made me itch. And not sleep. And I had a spell of hot flashes last year that was 3 months long, then nothing for a year, then another spell recently that lasted about 2 months. Isn't that more weird than normal?

3. I am currently researching information for children's books and you can't imagine the odd stuff I find. Yesterday I came across a video of a gibbon tormenting two tiger cubs.



4. And here's a cool one about Asimo.



Honestly, it seems like I have way too much time on my hands. (I really don't.)

5. In the last month, we have spent a grand total of $2590 on car repairs. God's joke on parents is that children go to college and need cars at the same time. Right after they get through braces and wisdom teeth. My word, kids are expensive!

On the good side, it's almost the weekend. Unfortunately, the weekend in Northern Virginia is going to be 100 degrees and humid. Have I mentioned how thankful I am for air conditioning?

Be thankful ~

Karen

Do you remember Charlie Brown's teacher? That's what I feel like.

Worked 8 1/2 hours today, did two loads of laundry, got about 8 quarts of tomatoes ready for canning, made dinner, and took the dog for a 2-mile walk. It's only 9:21 and everybody has gone to bed except Man-boy, who is at a soccer clinic. He and I are the night owls of the family. And Mike. The girls and Ben are the early-to-bed-etc. kind.

Wow. I am so boring. I'm sorry you have to endure this, but thanks for doing it.

We took Abbie's car to the repair place to have the check engine light investigated, and after two phone calls and $1500, it will be in tip-top shape. Except for the muffler that still needs to be replaced. I keep telling myself it's cheaper than a car payment, which it is, but dude. What do you say when they tell you it will cost $1500?

Why, thank you very much. In addition to putting my own kids through college, I'll fund your lavish summer vacation too.

Tomorrow brings more work, company for dinner, canning tomatoes, laundry, and beginning research on the next E-Book. And I might try to read the paper. Still waiting for the wren's eggs in my spider plant to hatch.

Ok, I'm going to mercifully shut up now.

Be thankful ~

Karen

Catching up from yesterday.

I was working at my computer yesterday afternoon when I turned around to see the headless teenager sleeping on my bed:

The headless teenager will be preaching in church tonight.

Later in the afternoon, Abbie brought her roommate Janeil home for the weekend. They were up to no good with chocolate cake batter:

And then I came back from my 2-mile walk and figured out why I can't lose weight:

*sigh*

In other riveting news, my iPod can't decide whether it wants to live or die. The capacity was down to about 50 songs (it's been washed and dried a few times). Last time I tried to change the playlist, it wouldn't take the new one. Then today I tried again and it worked (or so I thought). But every time I turned around I got another  blinking box telling me about a new problem (iPod can't be synced, list is in use, can't be disconnected, won't do anything you say, etc.). Finally, I unplugged and re-plugged it and it took the new playlist (all 48 songs!) and seems to be charging without incident.

iPods were not meant to be washed.

Be thankful ~

Karen

PhotoHunt: Triangle

At the top of the sunroom

If you look really closely, you'll also see more evidence of wildlife. Here's a close-up:

What do you think? Hornets? It's kind of papery and round, in layers. Whatever it is, I'm leaving it alone until it gets cold out.

Be thankful ~

Karen

This is not a paid advertisement, although I would gladly take whatever the company wants to give me.

I have a

who is rather large-ish (70 pounds) and produces copious amounts of hair. Long ago we had a bigger dog (130 pounds) in the house and I swore I would never have a big shedding dog inside again.

I lied. Pete is just so pathetic, I can picture him quivering in fright all night long if we put him outside. So he's in the house. Depositing his copious amounts of hair e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e.

Last year I got so frustrated with the furry tumbleweeds I went to the PetSmart (is it Pet-Smart or PetS-mart?) looking for relief. The lovely saleslady highly recommended a FURminator (As Seen on TV!) and even said her dogs loved getting brushed with it.

It was $50. People, I don't pay that much for my own hair brushes.

But I was desperate. I forked over the contents of my wallet and left the store. Then I forgot about it.

Today, desperation struck again and I remembered the miracle that my dog was going to love.

(insert rolling eyes)

But you know Pete, don't you. He cowered. He ran away. He hid in his box and I dragged him out. When I finally got him to the living room rug (this was before I vacuumed), he rolled over and showed his belly.  I told you he was pathetic.

But to make a long story short, I brushed him as much as I was able, which was not nearly enough, and look at the pile of hair!

I'm going to attack brush him with it again later. I have hope!

Be thankful ~

Karen

Nothing at all.

Not much new at the bensrib house, but here's what I'm thinking today:

1. I ordered Abbie's fall semester books today and they were $650. And that doesn't include the art supplies she'll need for painting. Had the motor mount and brake switch replaced in Leah's car and that was $340. Got an estimate for changing all the belts in the Honda and that was $750.

2. I really need to get my act together and finalize plans for Elijah's senior year of high school. I have a basic idea, but I don't know if I can get the resources I need. I want him to do a course that covers the Microsoft Office Suite like the one Abbie and I took at the community college. Is there such a thing for homeschool use?

3. I'm sick of summer. We get just enough thunder to freak the dog out, but no rain. I miss Memphis and its wild storms. But not their humidity, which may be worse than Virginia's.

4. I'm officially sick of cooking too. We ate grilled cheese and tuna sandwiches for dinner. I made a huge pot of collards today (to put in the freezer) and now my whole house smells like ham hocks and greens, which is not bad to a point, but right now it's annoying.

5. I can't think of a 5. And Ben is going to bed at 8:30. Good night.

Be thankful ~

Karen

The long day. And dog.

In spite of the fact that I got up at 5:30, worked 5 hours, did 3 loads of laundry from start to finish, ran some errands, got the beans in the freezer and the skins off the tomatoes,  made PR's Mexican Lasagna for dinner, AND despite the fact that the humidity is 800%, I still managed to take Pete for a walk. This is what he looks like now

Doesn't he look deformed? He's so l - o - n - g! I keep threatening to make a rug out of him. Wouldn't it be beautiful?

Walking is the only way to make him relax. He spends his days pacing the house, getting into trash (and he's almost four years old), and pestering me like a little kid who doesn't know how to play by himself. Look how happy he is now!

So why do I wait until evening? Because of the work, laundry, errands, beans, tomatoes, dinner, and humidity.

Lovely called from Orlando today. They are flying out tonight heading for Amsterdam. They'll get there in the morning and spend the day sightseeing there. Then they leave tomorrow night for Hong Kong. I'm so jealous! Abbie and I decided if we ever won the lottery we wouldn't buy a big house or fancy car. We would travel. I'm letting you know just in case it ever happens so you can remind me.

Be thankful ~

Karen

I'm a little late with the fireworks.

Just jumping in here real quick to share some photos I forgot I had.

This from our Independence Day celebration:

Not bad for a cell phone camera.

And this one, from Sticky Bean's other grandpa:

The blue eyes are amazing!

Today my dear husband picked the rest of the beans and collards, more squash, zucchini, and tomatoes, and then came in and washed it all and got it ready for the freezer. It took ALL DAY, aside from the time we were at church this morning. Amazing.  I would never have done it. It would have rotted in the garden before I got to it.

And I got a nap too. I have a great life.

Be thankful ~

Karen

PhotoHunt: Free

No explanation.

Be thankful ~

Karen

Reading suggestions?

OK, so I quit Entourage and went back to MacMail. I did take the dog for a walk, but only about a mile. Today I worked a bunch and got through day three of a five-day unit study. Picked squash, zucchni, and tomatoes, went to the bank, ate a grilled cheese and fresh-off-the-vine tomato sandwich, and picked some beans. I left the rest for Ben because I just decided I was done in.

Also painted my toenails and made the command decision to quit reading a book I was trying to get through. I almost never do that, but this one was exceptionally boring. Back to Holly Springs by Jan Karon is no action-packed thriller, that's for sure.

Any suggestions? It must be clean, well written, and what I call "brain candy." I don't want to waste what little reading time I have on nuclear physics. And I'm not big on romances—way too predictable and not terribly life-like.

Sticky Bean is now running through the house (his, not mine). One day he was crawling, the next he was on the go. In a rare moment of sitting, Deb snapped this with her phone:

So serious!

Be thankful ~

Karen

More new neighbors.

Remember the spider plant on the deck that's been home to two frogs already?

Well the wrens have found it too.

We're having a population explosion. Five children all at once? I'll pray for her.

I've been up to my eyeballs in robots, researching a unit study for young children. It's fun but very tiring for the brain. Saturday I go to my second homeschool convention of the year, Man-boy comes home from camp, Abbie's roommate comes for a visit (Hi, Janeil!), and I hope to sleep late on Sunday. We'll see how that goes.

Now I need to get dinner on the table, take the dog for a walk in the 95+ degree heat, and figure out how to use Entourage.

I'm almost 49. Does life ever slow down?

Be thankful ~

Karen

The family that dwells together, spells together.

This family conversation took place on facebook today:

Deb: I hate it when I screw stuff up. :( It's even worse when you can't figure out how.

Ben: Story of my life, Punkin. Fortunately, I have your mother to straiten me out. :-)

Michael: Impending MotherSpellcheck in five . . . four . . . three . . .

(At this point I'm laughing raucously and pounding my fist on the desk. I can't even see the screen for all my howling.)

Me: Michael, just so you're not left hanging . . . it's straighten, with a gh in the there.

I wonder what other people must think of our family.

Be thankful ~

Karen

They're baaa-aaack!

Isn't that a line from a movie? If it is, I'd appreciate knowing which one.

Today I braved the 100-degree sunshine to water the plants on the deck and the big garden. When I got around to the spider plants near my bedroom, I found this guy.

His cousin was in there last week and we thought maybe he climbed up and couldn't figure out how to get out, so Ben put him down in the garden.

He looks so happy here, but how does he eat? What if I don't water for another week? Will he die of thirst? What if he's really crying out for help and I'm just standing here taking pictures?

He acts like he doesn't want to come out. What would you do?

Be thankful ~

Karen

PS. There is also a wren's nest in this spider plant. No eggs yet. This is a popular place to live.

We found our garage!

This was my garage at the beginning of the weekend.

Then it threw up its contents in the driveway and the building commenced.

I wasn't too sure about this.

But they pressed on.

And I began to see a glimmer of hope.

You have no idea how long it's been since we've seen the concrete in this garage.

Not completely finished yet, but it's such a huge amount of progress in two days, I'm not complaining.

In all the cleaning and sorting, we found three rolls of teflon tape, two wood-handled 5-way scrapers (if you're a painter you know what that is and why it's important),  gajillions of screws, and a compound bow that hasn't been shot since 1990. Eleven almost-empty paint cans, enough oil for six oil changes, and Hayne's manuals for every car we've owned since we got married in 1984.

The pile that's going to the dump is impressive, but I failed to get a photo of it because it's 98 degrees in the shade of the garage and I didn't want to be out there anymore. What happened to last week's 55° at night?

Be thankful ~

Karen

My very beautiful daughter and her very beautiful friends.

My daughter is beautiful.

Even when she's acting like a hick.

She and a few of her friends went camping Friday night and took bunches of pictures.

Brooke is a lovely young lady who plays the piano like nobody's business and sold me my awesome Cutco knives. Don't you wish you could look this good camping?

Kelce is precious and is going to make a super wife and mom someday. She's the oldest of seven children and I love her incredible blue eyes.

Joy (JNo) is a sweetheart, and she's my own personal tech support. She knows everything about a Mac and I bug her incessantly. She loves me anyway.

Kori is Kelce's younger sister, and she has enough self-confidence for the whole family of nine. This is her new haircut, which we all love. Soooo cute!

I love my daughter's friends. They're such a wonderful bunch. Sometimes I wish they were all mine, but then I think about paying for all those weddings and I get over it.

Be thankful ~

Karen

PhotoHunt: Open

His home is an open sky.

See more of this week's PhotoHunt here.

Be thankful ~

Karen

A thank you note. It's the write thing to do.

Wouldn't you smile if you opened this today?

Sometimes I'm afraid the art of writing thank-you notes is dying, and then I get a lovely one from my 18-year-old niece and it makes me sigh a sigh of deep satisfaction.

So make someone happy. Write a thank-you note.

Be thankful ~

Karen

Our camping/rafting trip in two-word subtitles.

Packing up.

McDonald's dinner.

Camp site.

Breakfast burritos.

Fire hypnosis.

Charcoal graffiti.

Coffee experiment.

Bear stories.

Suited up.

Long hike.

Hot dogs.

Daddy longlegs.

Sunday pancakes.

Warming sausage.

Sleepless nights.

Car sick.

Be thankful ~

Karen