Not pictures, yet.

I HATE the new WordPress.com photo uploader.

I almost never get the Flash version, which works fine for me.

I get stuck with the Browser version, which only uploads one photo at a time, and never works to insert the picture in a post.

Such a pain.

I have found a workaround, but it’s a pain, too.

Basically, I look at another photo post in edit mode, and copy and paste the image code. Then I look at the media library and change all the specifics for the picture I actually want to use.

If it’s just one or two, not such a big deal, but I have a bunch from this weekend and, well, as I’ve already said, what a pain.

Chia food

So we were wondering what kind of plant is growing on our Chia kitty.

Guess what it’s called?

Chia.

Well. That should have been obvious, huh.

Apparently, chia seeds are incredibly good for you.

Even Prevention.com says so.

Some sources say not to eat the ones supplied with a Chia pet, because they’re not approved as food by the FDA. But there are other ways to buy the seeds.

Interesting.

I wonder, if we bought food-approved seeds and grew them on the kitty, would they stay alive long enough to produce more seeds?

We’ll have to see how far the existing plants get in their life cycle. They already have leaves out.

Seven more things

Missy tagged me for the seven weird things meme.

1. My favorite music as a preteen included Laura Branigan and Boy George. Oh boy.

2. Brace yourselves for this one: I had a crush on Ollie North during the Iran-Contra hearings. Yeah, I can’t believe it, either. How old was I then? Oy.

3. I hate getting the dregs out of the kitchen sink drain cup. I avoid it at almost all costs. Likewise, I hate touching food that has been in Amy’s mouth or even touched by her spoon. I don’t like to share food in general, but sometimes I can.

4. And yet I am almost the opposite of germaphobic. I am not exactly driven to keep the house spotless, I don’t like using strong chemicals, I forget to wash Amy’s hands when she’s been outside, we don’t take placemats to the dining hall or use shopping cart covers, and so on. Not that we live in a pigsty or anything.

5. I have equal contempt for both sides of many things. E.g. people who think church should be all about what’s old and traditional and people who think it should be all about the latest thing; to me, both err by thinking age (in either direction) has anything to do with excellence or worth.

6. It’s pretty laughable how I claim compassion and respect as my parenting motto of sorts; maybe it makes sense precisely because I am so prone to contempt instead, so that I need to fight consciously to aim at compassion and respect.

7. I once put salt and pepper on a hotdog. Having observed my family putting salt and pepper on all sorts of other things, I wondered why not a hotdog. I don’t remember how old I was, but I remember everyone’s reacting so shocked and appalled.

I’m still in a no-tagging mood; if you want to play, go ahead, and let me know.

Squirrel cat

Every once in a while I hear this weird gravelly crying.

And it’s the cat, at the sliding glass door, looking intently at birds.

She sounds like a squirrel.

One of those days

I’ve been depressed today.

Managed to get hold of Jasenka, someone I know through Culver, and she included me and Amy in her Walmart expedition with her three-year-old, Jelena.

Originally, we planned to shop there and do a few other errands, then eat lunch here. But the expedition was extensive — didn’t get home until 2pm.

There was the razor dilemma. Mark got a free Gilette Fusion in the mail over a year ago, and since he uses an electric I’d decided I would try it, and liked it. The one blade cartridge it came with lasted me all season with no problems, which is very impressive. So I thought I’d get some more cartridges. But they’re more expensive than other razor cartridges, and no other cartridges fit it. So then I have to decide if I will go back to Venus (used to have one and liked it pretty well) or try an electric. My friend uses Epilady; another option to consider. I don’t want to do disposables because of the waste.

What do you ladies use?

Then there was the plant dilemma. Jasenka’s friend’s dad died about a month ago, and she wanted to get a hanging flowering plant. Most were not so healthy-looking, but eventually we found one that she liked that was decent.

There was the card aisle. She needed two cards (a birth and a death). I hate buying cards. Does anyone actually ever find a card that says what they want to say and doesn’t say anything they don’t want to say?

A slew of other things — kitty litter for me, thread for both of us, various food items for her, baking soda for me, back and forth and all around.

By then it was obvious that lunch was not to be; we got fries for Jelena and a pretzel for Amy at the McDonald’s in the store.

Across town for a pizza for her oldest, and for filter cartridges for the kitty’s water dish, and home, where I hastily fed Amy frozen green beans (she likes them frozen), half a banana, and a piece of cheese before putting her to bed.

I planned to make banana muffins — the bananas are just past ripe and not really good for anything else at this point. But I’m not really in the mood — the general depressed day, plus the playgroup garbage, including that I invited folks for tomorrow and have already heard about three people who won’t be there, and am guessing no one else will show either but meanwhile I’ll have to stay home just in case.

Jasenka invited me to hang out with her tomorrow afternoon at her garage sale. I just might. Nice of her. Too bad her family’s going to be in Croatia (their home) for a year.

Ta-da!

It was black, I tell you.

I should have taken a “before” picture.

Best tip, from Karen: use the little Pampered Chef brown plastic scraper. Much more effective than scrubbing with a sponge.

Oh, and look how clever — to have both hands free, I tied the tilting element to the oven rack. If I was really clever, I would have raised the rack first, to get more room. Didn’t think about that until I was almost done.

Five by Five again

This time Invisible Emma got me. I don’t know her. But she has a kitty for an avatar photo. She grabbed my blog from Gabriel at Salted Lithium. I recognize his name from Thordora’s blog, but I don’t really know him either. How about that?

So here we go again.

Five Things Found In My Bag

My dulcimer bag this time:

1. CDs for sale
2. Music stand that fits between the dulcimer and the dulcimer stand
3. Wedding ceremony outline with music selections, from yesterday’s gig
4. Tuning wrench
5. Tube holding two pairs of dulcimer hammers

Five Things Found In My Room:

This time I’ll use the music / craft room.

1. Hammered dulcimer
2. Sewing machine
3. Twelve-year-old Ficus tree
4. Home-made shelves and desk — just boards and boxes
5. Amy’s First Year scrapbook album

Five Things You Have Always Wanted To Do:

1. Be who I really am without cost to myself or anyone else
2. Pet any kitty in sight
3. Ride a horse across a huge meadow, often
4. Fly (without apparatus) (also often)
5. Hear God’s voice and know it for what it is (would once be enough? One reason I’m glad I wasn’t around when Jesus first came is that I don’t think I would have been one of those people for whom one encounter was apparently enough. And can you imagine being one of those people he never even noticed?)

Five Things I Am Into Right Now:

1. Cleaning my oven. Last night’s baking soda and salt paste did an amazing job. Now I am trying Sandi’s scouring paste on the remaining spots, letting it sit while I’m online.
2. Thinking about mothers and daughters and spouses and friendships and wondering how it all works and why it doesn’t work and how to make it work better and how to deal with it not working better and things like that.
3. Getting a little more green as I’m able.
4. Trying not to be obnoxious about it.
5. Not accepting obligations I’m not really obliged to accept; like tagging people for memes.

Play if you like! Let me know if you do.

Revelations

1. No, I’m not talking about the Bible book. That’s Revelation, singular, by the way.

2. If the oven smokes whenever it’s over 400 degrees, so much so that the house must be opened up to dissipate it, and the smoke alarms go off, chances are it might need to be cleaned. Duh. We just keep forgetting to do it. Especially since you have to wait until the oven is cool enough to get in there and work on it. And we don’t own oven cleaner. And you don’t really notice the smoke at first — it’s not like it’s billowing clouds of blackness or anything. It creeps up on you. Or suddenly announces itself via the alarm.

But in my greeniness I thought I’d look around the trusty old Internet for homemade oven cleaner recipes. Lo and behold, the floor of my oven is now coated with a thick paste of salt, baking soda, and water; it will sit overnight, and tomorrow we shall see what we shall see.

Meanwhile I scoured the burner pans with steel wool. Not fun. If I’d had more paste, I would have coated those, too, and let them wait.

3. I can’t remember if I blogged about it at the time, but when I was going to DBT group during my PPD experience (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, and Post Partum Depression, FYI. Oh: For Your Information.), one evening in the shower it occurred to me that just because I feel X doesn’t mean I have to act it out.

In other words, I have had a tendency to think that people won’t know what I’m feeling, won’t get the message I need to tell them, won’t really listen to the words-only message, etc, unless I do a little drama for them. And yes, this tendency developed because people do tend to dismiss or ignore things if you can talk about them calmly and keep functioning. So annoying — scenes sometimes DO have to be made if it’s the only way to get what you need. Oh, and no, it’s not always a calculated, unfeeling drama — sometimes it feels driven, the only alternative left.

Anyway, there are times when I need to relinquish the need to send the message. Or the need to keep sending it for the thousandth time in the effort to make the person get the message and respond to it accordingly. Realize that the person the message is going to is NOT going to change or do the thing I want them to do. Realize, moreover, that my drama is unlikely to get the results I want, and I will have to either stick it out forever, which is a drain, or else crawl back from it with an even greater burden of mad shame and (especially) futility.

I have the choice to treat the person with respect and continue in relationship with them even though I feel their behavior or lack of behavior has hurt me in some deep way. Especially if I know that a) they didn’t intend me to feel that way and b) they’re just going to keep doing or not doing that behavior.

Futility in terms of not controlling someone else is not the same thing as capitulating, giving up on my needs and perspective, conforming myself to them since they won’t conform to me, etc.

If they won’t do what I need or want, I can see if I can do it myself, or, looking to God knowing that this world is not my home and this earthly life not designed merely for my entire self-fulfillment, do without.

This has a lot to do with willfulness, and learning to recognize what can’t be willed, and learning how to deal with such things. And with being right about everything almost all the time.

Bible picture and story books

What are your favorite Bible books to use with preschoolers? What do you like about them?

I taught a Sunday School class at our old church, using the Presbyterian curriculum they provided. I was so impressed with how they were able to reveal the Gospel implicit in every Bible story.

I would like to find books for Amy that offer that kind of perspective — instead of, or at least in addition to, all the cutesy-rhymey superficial or, worse, theologically twisted / inaccurate stories that are so much easier to find.

Danger of frost

Of course, since I planted my seeds early, the danger of frost looms for the next few nights. I don’t have any sprouts yet. Do I need to do anything to protect the seeds, or will they likely survive?