I just walked into the kitchen to get a drink of water. I put ice in my cup and went for the water cooler. When I realized it was empty, I groaned. Now I have to go out into the garage to bring a new bottle of water in. After I groaned I immediately thought, "Did I just groan about having to walk a few yards out to the garage to bring in my filtered sparkling water a few yard into the house? Wow.

Today at 11:00 we met a group of 33 wonderful people with empty water jugs in hand to walk 3.5 miles to Sonic Burger to fill up our jugs and walk back. We did this to simulate the walk the people of the Bugiri village take once or twice a day to get diseased dirty water for their village. It was great to walk and talk and get just a tiny feel for what it must be like. Well, not really. I mean we chose to do this walk ONE day. And, we had drinking water with us. And, we did it on a beautiful sunny day with a high of 70 degrees.

I know I am still not even close to understanding the life of our Bugiri brothers and sisters, but I do know that I have a greater sense of urgency after today's walk.

Doug had a great idea! He said I should post on my FB asking for just $1 for the well from anyone willing to give. I love this idea because almost everyone will give a dollar! He also had the idea to live in a raised crane until the money is raised. Hmmm....hopefully the "Dollar for a well" idea will work before he moves into a crane.

Click here to give to our 400 Dresses Well Project!

The 400 Dresses Project Blog

I've posted a new blog entry on The 400 Dresses Project blog:

http://the400dressesproject.blogspot.com/

The 400 Dresses Project Update

I finally have internet back at home, so I have time to update you on our SUPER EXCITING project!

In early January, our family decided that we wanted to help drill a water well in Africa. God sent an amazing friend into our lives about two weeks later. It just so happens that Julie works for Hope 4 Kids International and it also just so happens that H4KI drills water wells in Africa! I asked Julie how much it would cost and she told me it would cost $10,150. GULP! The funny thing is that the number I had in my mind that we could manage to do somehow was $4,000. Well, I guess God needed us to have a goal that we really didn't feel we could achieve on our own and $10,150 was an amount we didn't think we could raise.

A division of H4KI is called Hope 4 Women and they have a program called Dress A Girl Around the World. After looking at the dress program, I had an idea! We could make boutique quality pillowcase dresses in pairs, send one to Uganda and one to the purchaser. That would be how we'd raise the money for the well!

I had no idea it would take me until JUNE to finally have everything in place to really start sewing and selling the dresses in earnest. It took all of that time to raise the money to purchase the fabric for the dresses. I really wanted the dresses to be made with great quality designer fabric because even girls in extreme poverty deserve to feel like a princess. Kristin at Sew, Mama, Sew! allowed us to buy all of our fabric (27 bolts!) at her cost!

The orders are rolling in and we are about 1/10th of our way to our goal!

AND just today, we received a very large check in the mail from an out of state friend. I had NO idea she and her husband were planning to donate to our well!

We met with the President of Hope 4 Kids today and I am just so inspired. I asked him if the villagers know we are raising money for a well for them and he said they do! And, as soon as they get their new well, 80% of the diseases that kill their children will be gone immediately! Lives will be saved right away! I am just beyond excited about that.

If you know anyone who you think might like a dress, would you pass on our website and our 400 Dresses Etsy shop? And, if you feel led to, please pray for our village.

Here is info on our village...Bugiri 1, Uganda:

"A well will mean saving a village of more than 15,000 from common preventable and treatable diseases, like the Dysentery, the #3 killer in East Africa. Here is your village profile information where we will be drilling your well.

Village: Burgiri 1
Parish: Bugiri
Sub County: Kasasira
County: Kibuku
District: Pallisa
Population: Adults 5,000 Children 10,300
Water Source: River Water
Distance: 6 kilometres

The name of this village is Bugiri 1 located in Eastern Uganda. Bugiri 1 is a densely populated village up in the Pallisa District which is at a high elevation and has a very dry and desolate climate. There are 5000 adults and 10,300 children in Bugiri. In the areas surrounding Bugiri 1, there is a primary school, a Trading Centre, and a Health Centre. All of the people who use these would find great benefit in having a well in Bugiri 1.

The current water source for Bugiri 1 is a river 6 kilometers (3.6 miles) away. The river is a source shared with animals and also is used as a swimming pool. The animals contaminate the water, posing serious health hazards.

Many times, the children of the home are responsible for collecting the water, mostly the girls. This forces them to stay home and not attend school. The river is also a place for fishing. Tragically, many of the fishermen corrupt under-aged children as they come to collect water. Not only is this something no child should face, they are often exposed to HIV as well.

A well in Bugiri 1 will make a huge difference for the people in and around the village. Disease will go down, the children will be able to attend school, the girls will be safe from the fishermen."

Here are pictures of the water source that the Bugiri 1 villagers currently are using:

The fabric arrived today!!!

I am beyond excited! It was better than Christmas today at our house around 1:45 PM!

Fabric has been ordered!!!

I have spent hours finding the right fabric combinations and I officially ordered the fabric today! Here are the combos we went with:

We have our village!!!

I am so excited that we have now been assigned a village for our water well project! Talk about putting a sense of urgency in my mind!

You can read about it and see pictures on the 400dresses.org website. Here is a link!

The Water Well/Pillowcase Dress Project is "Well" Underway!

"400 Dresses", "Well Dressed", "Drink Well, Dress Well"...

These are some ideas for names for our project.

If this is the first you have heard of it, we are raising $10,150 this year to have a water well drilled in a village in East Africa. To raise money for the well, we are selling pillowcase dresses (they are ADORABLE!) and sending duplicate dresses to little girls in Africa who have no clothes and deserve to feel beautiful!

I have had so many ideas running through my head and so many offers to help that I am overwhelmed (in a GOOD way). I finally slept in until 7:00 am this morning. Excitement and a mind that wouldn't stop had me awake at 3:30 or 4:00 am Wednesday through Sunday!

I started sewing and LOVE the dresses. I have been using up my fabric stash and have also been given fabric from a wonderful friend!

The purpose of the post last week was just to let everyone know what we are doing. It was pointed out to us that there really isn't any good information on HOW to help. So...here are specific steps you can take if you would like to help right away:

1. We need donated fabric (designer fabric preferred). To donate fabric, email me at: melis108@gmail.com and we can make arrangements.

2. We need money to buy fabric. Sew, Mama, Sew! has offered to let us purchase fabric at cost plus shipping. That is GREAT news! In order to buy this fabric, we will need donations. If you would like to make a donation specifically for fabric, you can send me a Paypal at: melis108@gmail.com or send a check to: Melissa Lake, 42204 N 44th Drive, Anthem, AZ 85086.

3. We need seamstresses. If you would like to help sew the dresses, please contact me. We will be having a sewing event on Saturday, March 6th from 9:00 am to Noon in Anthem, AZ (specific details to come). But, I can also give you fabric and the pattern if you would like to do some of the sewing at home.

4. We need to "sell" dresses! Okay, we're not quite ready for this one yet. We are making dresses, but don't have enough to post in an online store. The dresses will cost $50 for two of them, one of which will be sent to the purchaser and one to a little girl in Africa. The $50 will be a donation, payable directly to Hope 4 Kids International.

5. We need prayer. If you are a pray-er, we'd love your prayers!

We are hoping to get a website up and running soon with just the basic information but we want to keep overhead as low as possible.

Thank you for the amazing support that you have given in just the past six days since we first posted about the project! We started out with the idea that this would be a Lake Family project, but it has almost overnight turned into a community project!!

I Have a Dream

Okay, I know that title is pretty cheesy since this post isn't about MLK, and it should actually be "We Have a Dream!", but it is the title that popped in my head and won't leave.

Three years ago, around Christmas time, Doug found out about something called the Advent Conspiracy. I was too busy Christmas shopping, wrapping gifts, lying to the kids about what was or was not in my closet, and of course making fudge to do anything more than listen to Doug's short description of the program. I liked the idea: to give the money that would have been used for Christmas presents to a project that drilled water wells for people who had no clean water to drink. But, well, I had a lot of gifts to buy for my kids!

That year, after Christmas, we sat around looking at all of the packaging and decided to start this blog and a one year experiment to buy nothing new unless it was a necessity. We lasted for several months and it was a GREAT experiment. We still shop at Goodwill as a result of those few months of buying nothing new.

Fast forward two years to Christmas '09. Doug and I decided, as we do nearly every Christmas, that we would keep it simple. Doug really wanted to focus on giving to people in need instead of just focusing on our family. I completely agreed with him and intended to stick with that. I had good intentions, I really did. But, have you ever visited the Grocery Game forums? Well, they have a forum called Hot Tips. Yeah. When you are finding all of these GREAT toys, games, magazine subscriptions, etc., it is near impossible to NOT take advantage! I should insert here that we don't do debt. But, I did dip into our savings a time or two.

Christmas morning was exciting as usual. About half-way through the present opening, Gianna looks at me and says, with a hint of despair, "Mom! Do I have to open the rest of these?" It was at that moment I realized that maybe, just maybe, I had overdone it again.

I will say we took one evening to shop from the Food For the Hungry catalog for extended family members. But, you can't just give that to people, can you? I kept thinking of the Festivus Seinfeld episode where George receives a card from Tim Whatley saying that a donation had been made in George's name to the Children's Alliance. George is ticked and says, "I got him Yankee tickets! He got me a piece of paper saying, 'I've given your gift to someone else!'" So, I kept imaging people thinking I'd given their gift to someone else.

Okay, so why, year after year, do I fail to keep it simple? I really want to. I do. But, I never actual stick to the plan. In the beginning of January, I started thinking it through. I discovered that what I love about the shopping aspect of the holiday season is that it gives me purpose that has a definite deadline (December 25). How could I meet that need in a different, maybe more productive way? I should add that I don't have a problem with giving the kids an exciting Christmas full of toys, games and clothes. It's just that, seriously, when your 5 year old doesn't even want to finish opening the gifts, you've overdone it!

As I was pondering a solution, I remembered that every year Doug and I talk about the need that so many around the world have for clean drinking water. Could I turn the desire to really make a difference in thousands of lives into a sort of shopping substitute (makes it sound so trite). Yes, by golly, I think I can! And, I'll make my deadline December 15, 2010 (I have to have some time to shop for Christmas gifts!)

We had questions. How much does a water well cost? Who do we contact about it? I asked the All-Knowing Google and came up with too much information. How do you choose an organization? I contacted two charities, and, believe it or not, didn't hear back from them. During this time, a new family joined our small group. They introduced themselves and Julie said she worked for Hope 4 Kids International. I don't remember how it came up, but I asked her if they did water wells. The answer was yes! And, this charity is IN MY COMMUNITY! I LOVE that! Our next question was how much does it cost to drill a water well? Ten thousand dollars, she told me. Gulp. In my mind, I felt like we could raise $5000. Ten thousand was DOUBLE that.

I went to the Hope 4 Kids International website and started looking around. Did you know that over 300 million people in Africa lack safe water? And, 26% of a child's life is spent fetching (dirty) water? And, one well can provide clean water for 11,000-30,000 people?

So, how do we raise $10,150 by December 15h? That was the question. While browsing the Hope 4 Kids site, I found the "Pillowcases for Uganda" project. Basically, they are making dresses for girls in Uganda who have no dresses. What if I made sets of matching pillowcase dresses, sold them for $50 (charitable donation made out to Hope 4 Kids), with one going to the purchaser and the other one going to a girl in Uganda! How exciting to think of a little girl in the US wearing a dress that is identical to a dress that a little girl in Uganda is wearing.

I spoke with Angie at Hope 4 Kids and got some very exciting info. We could be assigned a village before we even start fundraising! And, the pillowcase dresses can go to girls in THAT village.

We are beyond excited about this project. Every time I mention it to someone, they want to know how they can help. I want to make the dresses super cute...like boutique dresses. So, my first step is to find fabric. I think I'll start out buying 3 bolts of fabric. With that, I can make 30 dresses. I love Amy Butler fabric, but stink at choosing fabrics that look great together (HELP?). Here is a picture of the pattern I plan to use (thanks to Frog Legs and Ponytails for donating the pattern):I think that once I get some fabric and make a few of the dresses, I will have a sewing day where I can teach how to make the dress and we can make a bunch of them.

What do we need:

- FABRIC!
- Ideas for fabric combinations (see how cute the two fabric are in the pattern picture?)
- Financial donations to purchase fabric (you can send PayPal to melis108@gmail.com, indicating that it is for the Water Well Dresses).
- Prayer support - I KNOW God has put this passion in our hearts and I also KNOW He will provide what we need to get this done.

I am not the most consistent blogger, but I'm going to try really hard to post updates.

Happy 5th Gotcha!

I don't especially love the term "Gotcha Day". Maybe it just seems too flippant a term to describe something that truly feels like a miracle to our family. It feels like only God could have brought our family of four half way across the world and then to the middle of China to be united with our fifth member - a perfect fit for a father, a mother, and two boisterous boys - Qian Ting - aka Gianna Nora Lake.

Five years ago today, Doug, Jackson, Nathan and I and several other families took an impossibly long trip up an even more impossibly small elevator and walked into a room filled with little black haired babies. Some were in walkers and one, who looked like she had been crying, sat in the lap of a black haired man wearing a black leather coat. She was dressed in pink (her favorite color) and her cheeks were rosy, mostly because they were chapped.

It took me a minute to spot her, but when I did, I knew she was our daughter. I couldn't hold back sobs of joy. But, I quickly quelled my sobs when, in a rush of babies being passed and names being called, I recognized her name being called out. "Qian Ting!" I looked at Doug and said, "That's us!" All four of us rushed over and she was placed in my arms. She cried. I held her and told her, "It's okay. Mommy's got you." Then, "Jesus loves you." With all of the overwhelming love I felt for her at that moment and have felt for her since, I know that even a mother's love isn't as pure and wonderful as the love of our Savior.

To Doug and me, it really does feel like something miraculous took place five years ago today.

So....Happy Gotcha Day, Gianna! We love you!

Check out my homeschool items for sale!

http://homeschoolsuppliesforsale.blogspot.com/2009/11/for-sale-spell-to-write-and-read-wise.html

Ender's Game

Wow.  I just finished reading Ender's Game.  I ready it several years ago and loved it.  I read it this time and loved it even more.  I'm trying to put my finger on why I love this book so much.  The first time I read it, I was horrified at what a six year old child was going through.  This time, I already knew Ender.  Ender was never a little boy and I saw him in a different light this time.  There is so much to learn from Ender.  There is also much to fear in Ender, but I found myself relieved rather than afraid.  I wish I could objectively see my behavior and motives as objectively as Ender saw his behavior and the behavior of others.  I can't wait to read Speaker for the Dead.  I read Ender's Shadow right after reading Ender's Game the first time and didn't care for it much.  I didn't realize that chronologically, Speaker for the Dead is right after Ender's Game and that Ender's Shadow takes place at the same time as Ender's Game only from the perspective of another character.

I took notes as I read Ender's Game.  Mostly I just wrote out the definitions of words I didn't know, which can get quite interesting when you are reading science fiction!  But, the last thing I wrote on my paper was, "Ignorance=fear=hate and/or violence".  Sigh.

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I always recycle. Well....almost always. Sometimes at the gas station I put plastic bottles in the trash. I just want a clean car. There I said it. Confession is good for the soul!

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Maple Nut Granola

I came across a recipe for granola that I tried and modified to meet our gluten free needs and I changed it so much that I just decided to make it my recipe. Everyone loved it and I was so glad because even though it is high in calories, it is really very nutritionally dense. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Ingredients:
8 cups gluten-free oats
1-1/2 cups flax meal
1-1/2 cups gluten-free oat bran
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup finely chopped almonds
1 cup finely chopped pecans
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1 cup finely chopped cashews
2/3 cup finely chopped walnuts
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup organic evaporated cane juice
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 cup raw honey
1 cup coconut oil
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 Tablespoon gluten-free pure vanilla extract
1 cup shredded coconut

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325. Line two 9x13 glass pans with heavy duty aluminum foil and spray with Pam.

Combine the oats, flax meal, oat bran, sunflower seeds, almonds, pecans, cashews and walnuts in a large bowl.

Stir together salt, sugar, maple syrup, honey, coconut oil, cinnamon and vanilla in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Pour over the dry ingredients, and stir to coat.

Pour half of the mixture into each pan.

I don't have exact times for baking the granola. Basically, you want the granola to be nice and golden but not burned. It is easy to burn it so you really have to watch it. I set the timer for 10 minutes and then stir the granola. I set it for 10 more minutes and check at around 7 minutes and stir again or wait to stir at the 10 minute mark. Then, stir every 5 minutes or so until it looks thoroughly roasted. Don't let it get too dark. It will crisp as it cools.

Remove the granola from the over and with the back of a spoon, press the granola down into the pan. This will help make big chunks of granola when it cools. If you don't like chunks, skip this step.

Once it is completely cooled, store in an air tight container.

The Chosen - Chapters 4-7

The Chosen Chapters 4-7

I’m so amazed at how much I’m learning by reading this book. I’m trying to find a balance between really enjoying the book and bogging myself down with vocabulary! There are many words that I know, but want to understand more fully, so I look those up. Then there are words I’ve never even heard and those definitions have words in them that I don’t know. I actually had to stop and not write out the definition of “recondite”. My favorite word to say is “catechetical”. I think Doug found a way to use “catechetically” in a sentence and he even Tweeted it! Jackson, Doug and I had fun saying it over and over and trying to use it in different sentences. Anyway, back to the book. I wanted to summarize how Hasidism came about, but I’m not ready to do that with much accuracy, so for now, it will just be enough for me to personally have a better understanding of it myself.

In chapter 4 during one of Danny’s visits to Reuven in the hospital, the two are discussing the fact that according to Danny’s father (a Hasidic Rabbi) a Jew’s mission in life is to obey God. Danny said, “Sometimes I’m not sure I know what God wants, though.” I copied that down because it reminded me of my own questioning. What does God want? Is it easily found in the Bible (His Word). And, is God only in His Word (the Bible)? No, because He was before the Bible was. The Bible is not God. And, if the answer was as simple as reading the Bible, then why do so many people who believe in God have a different answer to that question?
In Chapter 7 Reuven is going with Danny to meet Reb Saunders (Danny’s father) and the crowds part as Danny walks past. Reuven questions Danny about this and Danny says, “Number one on our catechism: Treat the son as you would the father, because one day the son will be the father.” Wow. I don’t know why that stood out to me enough to write it down, but it really did. I think it was just the reality of the dynastic nature of the Hasidic religion.

Aside from the Jewish (mostly Hasidic) history and vocabulary, the story itself is very compelling. I really admire Reuven’s father, Mr. Malter. He has been helping Danny find worthwhile secular reading material in the library and while Mr. Malter knows who Danny is, Danny doesn’t know that Mr. Malter is Reuven’s father. But, what really strikes me about this is that Mr. Malter never tells Reuven that he has a relationship with Danny.

I’m going to type out from the book (Chapter 4) because I was very moved (and a bit convicted) by what Mr. Malter says…This conversation is between Mr. Malter, Reuven Malter and Danny Saunders…

“But all this week, even after the accident, you never said a word!” (Reuven says)
“I did not think it was for me to tell,” my father said quietly. “A boy comes into the library, climbs to the third floor, the room with old journals, looks carefully around, finds a table behind a bookcase where almost no one can see him, and sits down to read. Some days I am there, and he comes over to me, apologizes for interrupting me in my work and asks me if I can recommend a book for him to read. He does not know me, and I do not know him. I ask him f he is interested in literature or science, and he tells me h is interested in anything that is worthwhile. I suggest a book, and two hours later he returns, thanks me, and tells me he has finished reading it, is there anything else I can recommend. I am a little astonished, and we sit for a while and discuss the book, and I see he has not only read it and understood it, but has memorized it. So I give him another book to read, one that is a little bit more difficult, and the same thing occurs. He finishes it completely, returns to me, and we sit and discuss it. Once I ask him his name, but I see he becomes very nervous, and I go to another topic quickly. Then I ask the librarian, and I understand everything because I have already heard of Reb Saunders’ son from other people. He is very interested in psychology, he tells me. So I recommend more books. It is now almost two months that I have been making such recommendations. Isn’t that so, Danny? Do you really think Reuven, I should have told you? It was for Danny to tell if he wished, not for me.

I really like how discreet Mr. Malter is. I think if it had been me, I would have come home after the first day at the library and asked Reuven, “Do you know that Danny Saunders? He asked me for books to read in the library! And, they weren’t religious books, but secular books. Isn’t that interesting? I don’t think I’d see it as gossip, but really that is what it would be. Just something for me to think about. I admire how Mr. Malter handled the situation.

During Mr. Malter’s discussion of the history of Hasidism, he tells Reuven that legend is of no interest to him. I found this interesting because I see that he wanted to just give Reuven the facts, but I think that legend is very telling as well, as long as it is presented as such.

In Chapter 7, reference is made to the Ark in Danny’s synagogue. I wondered if all synagogues have an Ark? According to a slightly reliable source (Wikipedia): The Torah ark or ark in a synagogue (Jewish house of worship) is known in Hebrew as the Aron Kodesh by the Ashkenazim and as the Hekhál amongst most Sefardim. It is generally a receptacle, or ornamental closet, which contains each synagogue's Torah scrolls (Sifrei Torah in Hebrew). In most cases, when possible, the ark is located on the wall of the synagogue closest to Jerusalem.

So, which words did I not know? I hope by writing these out, I will be learning them even more. In the future, I will look the words up as I come upon them. I was at the water park and just jotted down the words I wanted to look up without giving page numbers, so two days later when I looked them up, I couldn’t remember the context.

They are, in no particular order:

Shabbat – Sabbath
Talmud – the collection of Jewish law and tradition consisting of the Mishnah and the Gemara.
Torah – 1. the Pentateuch, being the first of the three divisions of the Old Testament. 2. The Old Testament itself 3. The entire body of Jewish law as contained chiefly in the Old Testament and the Talmud.
Vestibule – a passage, hall or antechamber between the outer door and the interior parts of a house or building
Gaunt – extremely thin and bony; haggard and drawn, as from great hunger, weariness, etc.
Aristocracy – class of persons holding exceptional rank and privileges esp hereditary nobility.
Beadle – 1. (in British Universitites) an official who supervises and leads processions; macebearer 2. A parish officer who keeps order during services, waits on the clergymen, etc.
Kabbalah (Cabala) - book of Jewish mysticism (study of Kabbalah was forbidden by rabbis at certain times in history). A system of esoteric theosophy and theurgy developed by rabbis from about the 7th to 18th centuries, reaching its peak about the 12th and 13th centuries, and based on a mystical method of interpreting the Scriptures to penetrate sacred mysteries and foretellt he future.
Esoteric – 1. Understood by or meant for only the select few who have special knowledge or interest; recondite 2. Belonging to the select few 3. Private, secret, confidential
Unaffected – free from affectation; sincere; genuine; unpretentious
Affectation – a false appearance or assumption of a state, quality or manner
Amulet – a charm worn to ward off evil ro to bring good fotune; talisman
Ba’al Shem Tov – the Kind or Good Master of the Name (the rabbi who founded Hasidism) also called Besht by his followers. According to Ba’al Shem Tov the purpose of man is to make his life holy – every aspect…eating, drinking, praying, sleeping…
Hasidism – pios ones
Mitnagdim – opponents of Hasidism
Kaddish – considering someone dead and buried
Tzaddikim – Hasidim leaders “righteous ones”
Treatise – a formal and systematic exposition in writing of the principles of a subject, generally longer and more detailed than an essay
Caftan (in the Near East) – a long coat like garment tied at the waist with a sash
Tractate – a treatise; tract
Catechism – 1. An elementary book containing a summary of the principles of a Christian religion in the form of questions and answers 2. A series of formal questions and answers used as a test 3. Catechetical instruction
Catechetical – pertaining to teaching by questions and answers
Exposition – 1. A public exhibition or show 2. The act of expounding, setting forth or explaining
Expound – to set forth or state in detail

I’m still trying to figure out how to organize my thoughts. I want to have my own list of vocabulary, but I feel it is getting in the way of my enjoyment of and writing about the actual story. I’ll get there!

The Chosen by Chaim Potok Chapters 1-3

I read through the first 3 chapters of The Chosen by Chaim Potok today. At first, I just wanted the darn baseball game to be over with. I was glad it was only 5 innings! I found myself angry with Danny Saunders and the rest of the Hasids on his team, including the rabbi. They referred to the other team as "apikorsim" - a word I had to look up on the internet because it wasn't in my dictionaries. Apikorsim are secular jews. But, these jews were not what I would call secular by any means. It was the self-righteousness that angered me. Then, seeing Danny's kindness later, and gaining better understanding about him, made me realize how quick I am to judge. I can tell this is going to be a great book for me. I think I will come away from reading this book with a gentler heart toward people who are very different from me.

Just in 3 chapters I learned a lot about Judaism.

As I read, I plan to look up any words that I don't know. I also decided to look up word that I think I know but am not sure I know. I'm glad I did!

Here are the words I looked up:

samovars - a metal urn used especially in Russia for heating water or making tea.

dynastic (dynasty) - hereditary ruler - this surprised me. I didn't really know that the term dynasty had to do with blood lines. Interesting. This was a word I am glad I looked up because I had an idea of what it meant, but I really didn't know.

harrangue (another one I understood, but still looked up) - a long passionate and vehemet speech.

lithe (I thought this meant thin) - bending readily; pliant; limber; supple; flexible

apikorsim - secular jews

barrage - a barrier of artillery fire.

tefillin - something some jews wear during prayer. This was very interesting to me. I had no idea what this was and even that it was used.

The World According to Gianna: long pants are "long sleeve pants" and long sleeve shirts are "hot sleeve shirts".

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Coupons! Coupons! Coupons!

Coupons! Coupons! Coupons! isn't really the best title for this blog post. It is more like Coupons x 1000! I have gotten behind on filing my coupons. It happens to the best of us. I get six papers on Sunday and they always come in an orange plastic bag. I've got about 30 newspaper filled orange bags in my closet. Jackson asked me when I was going to start coupon shopping again. Well, let's see...we've got toothpaste to last us until Jesus returns; we won't ever need toilet paper again; mascara - check; Tylenol PM - check. It seems the only thing we are out of is white sugar. Well, around here, that qualifies as an emergency.

My choices are: 1. Take a day this week (preferably before that store ads end on Wednesday) and organize the darn things. or 2. Recycle them all and quit.

Well, I am not a quitter! And, what can you do when your 12 year old wants you to start couponing again? So, Monday I will get myself organized and get to the store!

I have been organizing the coupons by clipping all of them and filing them by manufacturer. That is the BEST way to always have what you need. BUT, it is also very time consuming and with 30 papers worth of coupons I just don't think I am up to the task. So, I guess I'll file them by week and clip them as I need them.

If you are reading this (and I don't blame you if you aren't) and you coupon (yes, that is now a verb) and you file by week (possibly the only sane way to do it), how does it work for you?

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Doug is making fun of me. Okay, so "Mr. Telephone Man" isn't a Michael Jackson song. I still like it.

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librarything.com

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Switching Gears...

I am going to start blogging. Doug is always telling me I need to blog more. But, I'm going to be totally honest and tell you what I think about blogs. Who cares? There. I said it. Almost everyone has a blog and if I wander through cyberspace reading blogs, for the most part, my eyes glaze over and I find I am not growing or learning, I'm just wasting time. I have found some VERY helpful blogs but they are far and few between.

So, why am I going to give blogging a shot? For me. I am going to think of it as keeping a journal. I am also going to start doing some writing in a journal, but I hate having a lot of paper around and I LOVE throwing paper away. This way, I'll have a record that isn't cluttering up my life.

I am going to start educating myself. I will start by reading, writing and discussing. On a daily basis, as I'm reading, I'll be writing on paper. I anticipate blogging less often and it will be more of an overview of the things I'm writing on paper.

Now, to choose a book! I'm going to start a list of books that I want to own. Hmmm....maybe I'll put that here, too.