Image from Amazon.com

I just finished the book Going Wrong by Ruth Rendell and I have to say I am disappointed. I really wanted this to be better and I kept hanging in there thinking, “Okay…any minute now this is going to be good. Yeah. The protagonist really will turn into the villain he’s been built up to be. Yep….any minute now…” But that never happened! UG!

First, the good guy would have made a really good bad guy if he had been really fleshed out. He was two-dimensional and after the first quarter of the book I was a little bored with him. The plot has a thousand holes, the side characters are like cardboard, and I got so frustrated with the story line, I stopped reading for three days. That’s a big deal for me.

The main character, Guy Curran, spends the entire book chasing a woman he met as a child. He thinks he’s madly in love with her, and even dangerously so. That’s where I wanted this book to go. I wanted him to DO something, kill someone, kidnap someone, blow up a building…SOMETHING, but instead he just drinks, cries, and shakes a lot. He’s supposed to be from the bad side of town earning his wealth through nefarious activities, but we never really find out what that means. Drugs and copying paintings? What?! I wanted Mr. Curran’s paranoia to creep into my head, wondering if he was really insane, or incredibly astute. All I felt was irritable. Yuck.

The object of his affection is dull as well, and the author does little to convince me WHY he should be so in love with her. There are so many characters that are supposedly connected, but are so briefly touched upon that by the end I was honestly confused. Who? What? Why did that one guy do that one thing? You know…those sort of questions are not good to contemplate when you are almost done with the darn book.

Things started to get interesting at three-quarters of the way through, so I kept reading, but was so let down I wanted to toss my Kindle across the room! Of course, I would never, but I thought about it for a split second.

I am happy to say, my Kindle is safe, but I will be starting another book asap to get the bad taste out of my mouth. Blech! I did get this book for free from Pixelofink.com, a website that searches for special deals, and freebies. All of the books link to amazon.com. The website is a great free service, and I am not often disappointed with the books they offer.

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I know what you’re thinking. Old fashioned parenting means spankin’ the holy Moses out of your kids, telling them to be seen not heard, and to keep their elbows off the table. Sure, I turned out fine and I was raised with spankings (with a wooden spoon mind you…until my butt broke the spoon. Then it was on to metal), strict rules, and a swat on the back of the head for burping at dinner.

I certainly do not intend to start a firestorm of angry emails, so I won’t get into the nitty gritty details of my parenting style, but I will say this: Please, for the love of God, say “no” to your children. As a mother and a teacher, I see the results of bending to a child’s will. It’s horrible, and it’s getting worse.

I’m not sure when parents became afraid to parent. When did parents decide they needed to be their child’s best friend instead of role model, protect them from any and all rejection, and tiptoe around unpleasant situations? I think it’s good that children experience the pain of being hurt so they can cherish the joy of being loved. I’m not saying I want my children to suffer, not by the largest stretch of the imagination. I just want them to know the sting of being snubbed by a friend, or being on a losing team. I know it sounds harsh, but if they have no downs, how can they have any ups?

My children need someone who will guide them through the pit-stops in life, be there when they need a shoulder to cry on, say a kind word when they are sad, and set boundaries. That’s right….boundaries. My children do not have a lot a freedom and that’s the way it should be. I let them choose between vanilla ice cream and chocolate ice cream, The Beatles and Brad Paisley, “Sorry” and “Chutes and Ladders”. My husband and I will decide the big stuff….because they are children and we are adults.

No, my children will not be allowed to have tv’s in their rooms, have cell phones before high school (and with no or limited internet access), or junk food before bed time. Actually, we don’t really eat junk food, so that one may be moot.

I will not let them hang out with kids that I consider a bad influence. Do I have to love all their friends? No. I’m sure there will be a few I’m not happy about someday. I just want them to know the difference between a good friend and a bad one. We will not let them wear t-shirts with vulgar slogans, buy them one hundred dollar jeans, or pierce anything on their face except their ears. No gauges, smoking, staying out late, going to unsupervised parties, or blasting music loud enough to disturb the neighbors. We will expect good manners, polite behavior, and respectful actions. We will also teach our children to say no to anyone (adult or not) who makes their internal sirens go off. Being polite does not mean being a doormat or victim.

There are some choices I won’t mind if they make. If my son comes home at 17 and tells me he wants purple hair, I may not be happy, but purple hair it is. Do you want to know why? Because it’s just hair. It can be cut, colored, or grow back. There is nothing wrong with self expression, but I will not allow it to happen at the expense of their dignity.

In my classroom I have heard things from the mouths of children that no self-respecting adult would say! They disrespect their parents in front of me (if I tried that with my parents, my lip would still be bleeding), speak with attitude , and consider themselves equal with adults. What?! You are not my equal, little child. I value you as a person, but I have worked very hard and experienced a lot of life to be where I am, and you my sweet things, have no clue what you are talking about. And that’s okay. You’ll learn. You’ll grow and your character will take shape through your experiences. We made a promise to our children when they were born that we would do the best we could.

I am not perfect. I have made mistakes, said things, done things, and have regrets about the way I have dealt with some situations as a parent. I know my children will forgive me because they love me and respect me. Just like I forgive them for throwing a fit at the grocery store, refusing to eat cauliflower, and acting a fool in front of company. I love them. I cherish them and want them to cherish themselves enough to make good decisions.

So, I’m not saying you need to make your child cut a switch for a whoopin’, humiliate them, or ignore them. I just think it’s time we reevaluated some of the old fashioned ways of parenting. It would do a world of good for everyone.

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 In Memory of KyOna Hoff

I was beginning to think I was going to have some kind of mid-life crisis. A stubborn “muffin top”, drama in the workplace, two kids in difficult stages, illnesses among family and friends, and even a tragic loss of life is enough to make any girl question what life is all about. I have to say, I’ve been greedy.

I have aches that didn’t even exist before. I can’t sit for too long or my hip starts to hurt, stand for too long or my back starts to hurt or work at the computer for more than 2 hours or my neck starts to hurt. I started taking fish oil to help improve the elasticity of my skin because I see wrinkles I am NOT prepared to face (no pun intended). I take glucosamine for my joins, vitamin D because I have a deficiency, a multi-vitamin, and many days I add ibuprophen to the mix. I have to pee all the time, and things have started to sag. I can, however, deal with all of that.

Now, I have friends who have gotten sick or have spouses that are fighting serious illness. I know people my age with children going off to college in the fall, are having children of their own, and are facing life-changing issues of their own. I have noticed my father’s declining health due to age and lifestyle choices, and I worry about how long he can live alone, or how I will pay for it when he can’t. This too, I can deal with.

I stress out about my children’s future, retirement, health, finances, the economy, and gas prices. I try to squeeze more out of my food budget which is tricky considering prices have gone up on everything. I’m frustrated for my wonderful husband who hates his low level job and can’t seem to find anything that matches his degree and skills. Despite the weight on my shoulders, I can deal with this too.

But the very worst thing that has happened was the loss of a beautiful, wonderful young lady who just happened to be the sister of my very best friend. The loss was sudden and tragic, and unbelievably sad. My heart broke for my friend and her family and for the first time in a very long time, I feel helpless. I cried and cried, and I wish I was powerful enough to take away the pain her poor family feels.

With all of the details that come with the loss of a loved one, along with the grief, I didn’t know how to offer help without getting in the way. The only think I could think to do was to pick up the garden seeds my friend had started. Everything was sprouting and getting ready to welcome the good warm earth and I didn’t want to see my friend’s efforts wasted. That’s all I could do.

Now, these things…these heartbreaking things, I cannot deal with.

I have had time to think about what I consider precious and valuable. When put into perspective, I can deal with the aches and pains, the aging, the work drama, my father’s health, financial difficulties, fussy children, dieting, and a moping husband. I feel ridiculous that my life seemed too hard. All of these things are small compared to the loss of a loved one. Granted, all piled up they can be tricky, but it still cannot compare to the loss my dear friend is facing. I have been selfish and narrow and my heart feels sad when I think about how much I worry over small things. I am also conflicted. I’m sad, but have discovered a renewed sense of what it means to be grateful. I can only hope when the time comes (and it will), I can handle it with grace and dignity. I am making a conscience effort to pay more attention to my blessings because they are all that really matter.

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I am a fan of Pintrest. I can spend hours looking at great things to eat, wear, decorate, make….you name it. You may remember awhile ago I made some laundry detergent. It works amazingly well, and I am happy with the results. Next I’ll be trying body soap, and dishwasher soap. Can you tell I like things to be clean? These are some of the more pricier items you pick up at the grocery store, so making them myself is a great option. It doesn’t take much time and I’m saving money!

This idea for green onions (or scallions as the upper class say…haha), really works. I simply put the ends of onions I had already used into a glass of clean water. Within 2 weeks there were huge new shoots ready to eat. Here’s the original link on Pintrest: Green Onions.  Just remember to drain and replace the water when it gets cloudy. I love this!

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Photos from Google Images

Spring is technically supposed to start March 20, but I’m not so sure Mother Nature is on board. Today, in the lovely town of Yakima, it snowed, rained, blustered, and managed to get sunny at the end of the day. I understand March comes in like a lion an goes out like a lamb, but this is kind of ridiculous. I started my indoor greenhouse two weeks ago and my peas and beans are so tall I had to stake them while still in the pots. I’m hoping they make the transition to the garden without too much damage. The spinach, eggplant, squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, and lettuce are coming up, but slowly (thank goodness).

Now here is where my status as novice gardener comes into play. I only started 6 carrots because I actually thought they grew in bunches. I also planted corn which is now nearly a foot tall so I will have to “recycle” it when I till the garden and plant seeds directly in the ground. I had no clue it grew so fast. Now, I never claimed to be the brightest bulb in the box, so my learning curve is pretty steep and I find myself worrying about my seeds. I check them as soon as I get home, move them around to make sure they are all getting light, water them, and just stare at them. I can’t IMAGINE being a real farmer! I don’t know if I’d sleep.

I am also excited to harvest my little crop and start canning and dehydrating. For now, we are working on our jerky making skills. So far I’ve ended up with Turkey Jerky that tasted like bacon, and a batch that turned into thick dried pieces that reminded me of Tim’s Cascade Chips. I love these chips because they are so crunchy which is a fabulous trait in a potato chip….not so much in jerky. I’ve got gardening books, canning books, books about food storage, and dehydrating. I want chickens too but it looks like we’ll have to wait until next year, but I have a few books on chickens too.

Now that I think about it, maybe Mother Nature knows what she’s doing. She probably realizes I have totally bitten off more than I can chew and is giving me time to either come to my senses and give my seedlings away, or hoist my garden boots up and get busy. I’m pretty sure I’d like to rise to the challenge, but I may need the next few weeks to gird my loins. Thanks Mother Nature

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Okay, so the title of this post is a little off, but I’ve had a wonderful spring day and it all just kind of fell together. I have had a great weekend! I hung out with my little brother, Charlie, and his girlfriend Meliza yesterday, which is always fun, and just the fact that I spent time outdoors before seeing them put me in a good mood. I caught my pets having a very private moment, I got to go on adate with Dan, and spent some really awesome quality time with my children.

Today, I made my own laundry detergent! That’s right…thanks to Pintrest.com (my new addiction) I found a great recipe. It took only 15 minutes and I ended up with ten gallons of detergent. This is awesome considering it only cost me 10 bucks or so for all the stuff. I also do a bazillion loads of laundry a week, so I’m really saving some money. Then I painted garden rocks with the boys for my vegetable garden, spent time at work grading papers, went grocery shopping, and cleaned house. I also managed to fix a kick-butt dinner of pulled pork bbq sandwiches so basically, I totally rock according to my kids and husband. To top it all off, the weather was divine!

I’m totally going to bore you with the pictures of all the goodness I felt this weekend, but it can’t be helped. I even got to spend time working on my food storage. Thanks to foodstoragemadeeasy.net, I managed to learn quit a bit about food storage and even created an inventory list. These ladies have a great process of baby steps that make it super easy to follow, and all but eliminate the “overwhelmed” feeling I get. When looking at the whole process in one big chunk my head begins to spin, so breaking it down is so much nicer. Yes, this is Crisis Christine coming out again, but I love doing it and I feel SO organized.

Overall, not much as happened except that the weather seems to be changing for the better and that always works wonders on a girl Welcome Spring!

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I think I have mentioned my nickname here before, but I’ll say it again. Hello, my name is Crisis Christine and I am a Prepper. Now, don’t get me wrong…I don’t belong on NatGeo’s show “Doomsday Preppers”, but I will admit, I like the idea of being prepared. I am not afraid of a zombie apocalypse, a volcanic eruption, coronal mass ejections from the sun, or a massive earthquake. I do not lay awake at night worrying about possible life altering events and how I will keep my family safe.  I do not think the world is going to end in December (or any other date some crazy prophet spits out) and I do not think we are going to be invaded by aliens.

I do, however, worry a little about the economy, Constitutional stomping laws, and Bigfoot. Okay, Bigfoot isn’t huge on my list, but I freak myself out when I’m in the woods. I am also a little scared of “paranormal” things. That’s right….ghosts.  BUT, that doesn’t mean I’m a paranoid nutcase.

I DO believe in being ready in case of an emergency. I worry about the prices of gas and food skyrocketing out of control, and to be honest, some of my neighbors are a little creepy. I just want to make sure my kids are safe. I have being saving food and water, will be planting a garden, begin canning, and have purchased some survival guides, as well as first aid bags, water filters, and even a port-a-potty. Will you find me perched in a tree with an assault rifle ready to shoot anyone who tries to get to my food storage? Maybe. Will my kids be fed if for some reason we cannot get food? Yes.

I am totally okay with stocking up on toilet paper, sanitation supplies, flour, rice, beans, and sugar and getting a little ribbing from folks along the way. Yes, we have firearms, but they are locked away from snooping children, and they have been (and continue to be taught) the seriousness of handling firearms. We have a fire drill, a “meet-up” spot in case we are separated while evacuating, and we have talked about what to do if there is an intruder. My children are not scared and I refuse to scare them. They are aware.

I have not turned into a camo-wearing, gun toting, right-winged radical. I am a “getting my nails done”, wear heels on date night, help there’s a spider in the kitchen, kind of girl. I love to play outside, get dirty, hug people, drink wine, and read books. I will let a man open the door for me, and give him a dirty look if he doesn’t.  I also love animals, pina coladas, dancing in the rain, and a long walk on the beach. I will (make no mistake,) I WILL load a semi-automatic weapon and point it at anyone or anything that threatens the well-being of my family.  But really, the odds of that happening are pretty slim.

Hello, my name is Crisis Christine and I am totally okay with it! Now…time to make that hair appointment

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Well, I am hoping the weather as of late is proof that ‘ol Puxatauny was wrong. It was gorgeous outside today! Of course, I used this day to run errands and then take a nap on the couch, but at least I drove with my window down and napped in the sun streaming through the window. Okay, that’s not all I did I taught Arlo, the new puppy, how to heel and sit! I was very proud of him and rewarded him with lots of treats and a ridiculous amount of baby talk and kisses. I admit, I am a total goob when it comes to pets. I carry the cats (Shadow and Lucy) cradled in my arms like babies. It’s sad, really.

My husband is convinced this is my way of dealing with “baby fever” which seems to have hit me out of nowhere. I have been daydreaming about “just one more”, but then William throws himself on the floor in a fit of anger over a Matchbox car, and all dreams are quickly dispersed. I can’t afford another baby, and besides….I’m almost 40 years old. The risks are just to great at that age. And, well…damn. I’m almost 40 years old. I’m starting to freak out a little, but I’m hoping the Three Legged Dog bottle of wine will help me through.

In the meantime, I will continue to spoil my pets. I have been known to mix wet food and dry food because dry food is just so “boring” and even heat it up in the microwave, because who wants a cold dinner? I buy them toys, beds, new collars, and more toys. I don’t mind scooping the litter box, or chasing the dog while trying to prevent a piddle accident. I clean up poop, give my own vaccinations, spend money on spaying, neutering, and even attending Humane Society fundraisers. I just love my furry friends!

So, in honor of the pets I’ve had (Frisky, Tiger, Bubbles, Chester, Peanut, Wibs, Howard, Stella, Pentunia, Ally, Mrs. Pips, Shadow, Lucy, Arlo and countless unnamed fishes), I will be spending some time this spring volunteering and spending time with pets who need a good home. There is Spay-ghetti and No Balls Fundraiser sponsored by the ASPCA and Wags to Riches Animal Rescue and Sanctuary at the West Valley Fire Department in Yakima. It is February 26, 2012 from 4 to 8pm at Station 1 at 10000 Zier Rd., Yakima, WA 98908. Please come if you can! The cost is only 5.00 per person with kids 12 and under being only 3.00, and there’s even a raffle!

This animal lover will thank you for your support, and I’m sure the animals will too. Of course, after the anesthesia from their procedures wear off and they are able to see clearly

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I have had an epiphany! For years, people have been telling me to relax a little, stop stressing over all the little things, take time for yourself and each time I shook my head, and said, “Yeah. Sure.” Well, I was given an ultimatum and realized I needed to listen to the ones that care about me.

I figured starting over Christmas break would give me a chance to really evaluate what I needed to do. I could take the kids to daycare, Dan would be at work, and I could spend several days alone. It really helped me gain some perspective on the situation. I truly had no idea how much stress I was actually carrying around on my shoulders. It had affected my husband, my job, my beautiful children, and of course, myself.

I started to think: How did I become this way? Why do I have the need to control things? Why do I try so hard to control things I cannot possibly change? What the heck happened?!

I came up with a few things, and yes, I went back to my childhood and looked at the relationships I had with my parents. Cliché, but it worked. I had an emotionally turbulent childhood (I already knew that). I suffered from ADD and depression (I used to wonder what was wrong with me). When I was young, ADD was rare and treated with lots of drugs. Depression wasn’t even discussed in my house. I don’t think my family understood what was happening and it certainly didn’t cross their minds to get some help.

When I was 12 my mother demanded that I see a therapist, but my only option was to see the same one she started seeing. What?! Talk about boundary issues. I refused and the fight that followed was epic. I eventually saw someone, but I lied and said whatever I needed to in order to get out of that office.

I fought in silence for years, often becoming dangerously self-destructive. Honestly, there are moments when I am amazed that I am still alive. My parents were not exactly the pictures of mental health and I think in an effort to gain control over my life and surroundings, I tried to take control over things that were in my reach. I have had the ADD and depression under control for years, but I hadn’t changed my coping mechanisms. I was still a hamster on a wheel frantically trying to reach a destination that didn’t exist.

Now, at almost (gulp) 40 years old, I think I understand myself more than ever. I seem to feel more deeply, cherish my time and my family more, and do my best to live in the moment. It is an amazing feeling of freedom I have never felt before. It really is quite incredible. My mother once told me, “You don’t want to be a middle-aged woman trying to get your life under control.” I disagree. I think this is the time when life starts to make sense and we become true to ourselves.

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Now that I am no longer trying to kill myself via Graduate classes (at least for this semester), I have more time to read. YAY! I am still learning to navigate the Goodreads.com website (which is awesome), but I thought I’d post this to practice

“I like big books and I cannot lie.”

Christine’s books

To Kill a Mockingbird

by Harper Lee

The Diary of a Young Girl

by Anne Frank

1984

by George Orwell

Pride and Prejudice

by Jane Austen

Animal Farm

by George Orwell

MamaMommyOnline - The Story of Everyday Life