Spring Break 2019 Roundup

By Elizabeth Prata

I have four hours left of my Spring Break. At 1:30 I leave for 2:00 Sunday School, then Church service, then Small Group at 5:45. By the time I get home at around 8:00pm, it's time for my nighttime-closing down routine and then bed by 9. So this is it.

I had plans and goals for this week off from school. I didn't go away anywhere exotic. I stayed in my mind, which is exotic enough, lol. I wanted to rest my ACL muscle and let it recover. It had been giving me trouble. Wearing a knee brace helped, but the brace rubbed the skin off the back of my knee and I also wanted that to heal. So, not a lot of walking.

I wanted to nap and rest with the cats, which is very relaxing to me. When I get on the bed for an afternoon rest or nap, they climb on and nestle around me, purring. It's so wonderful. I lay there looking at the ceiling and letting my thoughts wander and listen to them purr.

I wanted to read some books. I have a pile. As any bibliophile knows, the reading never keeps up with the accumulation. I read three books (a disappointment since I'd set a goal of 5). The three I read are listed below. The thing is, I then bought 4 more. LOL, I'm behind once again, happily.

Banner of Truth Trust had a $3 sale. Are there any better words than that? Except Ligonier's $1 eBook sale or Ligonier's Friday $5 sale...or the elders at church piling up a stack of books the church had bought and saying "Here, take a book for free..." Our church is filled with readers.

Here's what I got at Banner of Truth's $3 sale-

Both Sides Now: Ecclesiastes and the Human Condition by Peter Barnes. I am fascinated with Ecclesiastes. I think it's because I was not saved until age 42, and I remember distinctly what it feels like to be lost. I think that is also why I'm so fascinated with grace.

Letters on Revival, by Ebenezer Porter. The author was an eyewitness to the New England revivals, and has valuable insights, warnings, and encouragements. I love the Puritans, I believe because I was raised in Rhode Island, one of the original colonies. My school history days were full of tales of Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson and I was fascinated by people who clung to a religion so much that they would sail off in leaky boats across the Atlantic to pursue it. Their act was a powerful witness.

The Way Everlasting: A Study in Psalm 139, by E. J. Young. I'm intrigued by the Psalms. I don't really click with them for encouragement the way a lot of people do. I think it's because of my autistic brain not connecting with emotions as much. For encouragement, I like Ecclesiastes and Revelation, that is where I get my comfort, strangely. So this little book studying one Psalm, I hope will introduce me to the majesties I know the Psalm contains.

Books I Read:

Narrow Gate, Narrow Way by Paul Washer
Work and Our Labor in the Lord by James M. Hamilton
Internet Inferno: A Contemporary Warning and Reminder Regarding this Ancient Truth - "The Tongue is a Fire, the Very World of Iniquity, and is Set on Fire by Hell" James 3:6, by Michael John Beasley
Lit! Tony Reinke

I didn't finish Lit! the way I'd hoped. I had also wanted to start and finish The Believer's Joy by M'Cheyne and Idols of a Mom's Heart, two books our church recently gave away. But oh, well, the naps won out!

Things I Bought: (Must. Be. Frugal.)

File folders
Small Birdhouse
Small Planter
DampRid for the closet
All but the DampRid from The Special Store (local vintage thrift shop).

Books I Bought:

Banner of Truth $3 sale-
Both Sides Now: Ecclesiastes and the Human Condition
Letters on Revival by Ebenezer Porter
The Way Everlasting: A Study in Psalm 139 by E. J. Young

Must.Not.Be.Frugal when it comes to books...Axiom does not apply...

From Amazon-

The American Puritans by Perry Miller. One of the guys I follow on Twitter recommended the book. As mentioned, I love the Puritans, and yes, I judge a book by its cover, and I loved the cover. It's pretty. And New England-y.

Fortunately, summer is coming when I have the time off between Memorial Day and July 30, so I plan to read. I am still chugging along on the Challies Christian Book Challenge at the Avid level.

I also had a goal of organizing some things. I have one closet. My drawers were overflowing. I go through my clothes every two years or so and get rid of what I haven't worn, and make room. I was busy talking myself out of that when a friend dropped off two large trash bags of clothes she was giving me, so that rationalization ended that. I sorted hers, kept what suited and donated the rest, along with my own clothes that I needed to move along out of here. I've got one and only one closet in this place and I need to keep it manageable. So I organized the clothes in the bureau and the closet. Feels good! As well as donating.

And this might sound strange, but I also had a goal of organizing my jewelry. I don't like to wear jewelry that much. It feels funny on me, and heavy. I also leave it to the very last second when getting ready for work in the morning, and if I can't work the clasp, or if the strands are tangled, I am 100% likely to just throw it back in the box and go on with my day. I have nearly zero tolerance for jewelry frustrations. But when I do wear it, I get compliments, so obviously, it is important to look nice, or polished, or something.

I reorganized my box and untangled. I also did some surgery of removing the smaller clasps and putting larger links on them, for easier putting on or removal. Needle nose pliers and tweezers accomplished this while I was listening to Laura Twiss explain about Psalms 3-7. Still trying with the Psalms... I also took the time to clean the silver and wash the gold.

One other reorganizing project I had mentally scheduled as a goal, in addition to the clothes and jewelry, was my China display. I live in a 400 sf apartment and the kitchen is small. It has little counter space. And little wall space. I like to display my teacups and teapots in an orderly way. Doing so looks nice, because the china patterns are lovely to look at. Orderliness also affords easy access when I want to actually use them, which is practically every day. However I have some teacups doubled up and I don't like that. The china display is about 90% where I want it to be but I can't seem to get it over the top.

Those bottom two loops are not designed
for hanging cups. But I needed a spot to display them so...

Which caused the saucers to be stacked up apart from their cup

There is an unused space in the corner of the counter. It was jumbled and not used well. In a small apartment, every space counts, even space that's just a few inches. I searched for a long time for corner display shelving at Amazon and Amazon Warehouse. (Frugal tip: scroll to the very bottom of the Amazon.com page. See the Book Repository and Warehouse, two sections of the store that sell the items for lower prices.) Nothing. The shelf I have now actually holds a lot. I got it at a yard sale like 11 years ago for under $5.

Still, I searched for a replacement counter top shelf that maybe could hold more or in a better way. Nada. Stumped, I started thinking...what do I already have that would fit into that space? Something tall so the teapot I put on it will be displayed and not hidden. Hmmm...

Voila! I have a glass vase. It's clear so it won't make the space look crowded and just the right height to put the teapot on. I found a coaster of the right size and placed the Hall's 1920's tea pot on top. It freed up space for the Japanese cups clustered unseen in the corner and allowed me to spread out the doubled up tea cups a bit. The display is about 95% now. I still would like to display every tea cup with its saucer and another wall rack would solve that, but I simply don't have the wall space. I might have to live with this the way it is. As long as I do not buy another teacup...

The bowl is an Iroquois china, Harvest Time pattern, Mid-Century. 1958 - 1969
I use it for a fruit bowl. I have eaten all the fruit. 

I'm blessed to own 8 teapots, 11 china teacups, and three Japanese Yunomi cups. I figured out a way to display them all in my small apartment, somaybe I'm not doing so bad. I found a teabag display organizer on Amazon while I was looking for counter top china display shelving! I put it on my wish list, because the tea cupboard is the next thing I plan to organize.

I know I go on about organizing, but it is frustrating to me to see clutter. Any extra cluttr makes the place seem smaller. I also feel frustrated when I have to hunt, or wrestle things from their spaces to use them. Living tiny means extra steps anyway, you do not want to add to that with extra steps that are under your control. Example, getting a paper towel. I don't have room for it on the counter, so instead of one move, lean over and grab, I have to bend down, open cabinet under sink, take out the roll, rip one off, put back under counter, and close door. Instead of one step, there are now 6 steps. You do not want to add to that by having to reach, hunt, or reorganize, just to get one paper towel. Keep things streamlined as much as possible. Makes life easier.

Movies Watched:

Measure of a Man
East Side Sushi
The Ramen Girl
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
The Highwaymen
Barkley Marathons
The Polka King
Carrie Pilby

Youtube Channels Subscribed to:

Centsible Living with Money Mama (focusing on financial frugality and time saving)
Frugal Minimalist (life hack tips for saving money)
Dr. Lori Verderame (appraisals of thrift store items)
Alexandra Gater (home decor/interior design on a budget)

Sermons listened to:
Lots. Phil Johnson, John MacArthur, Mike Riccardi, Sinclair Ferguson, Steve Lawson, RC Sproul...I love these men and the way they exposit scripture. Also heard Laura Twiss for the first time (Paul Twiss's wife), teaching at the Ladies Ministry at Grace Community Church, called Every Woman's Grace.

Blogs written:
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As of Monday when I return to school, there are 31 1/2 days left with the kids, and 3 days of post-planning. We're done on May 24. So we are winding down. I can't believe another year has gone by. They do go quickly. I try to be productive and redeem the time. I sometimes feel I could do more. But can I? Should I? I can only do what I can do. I appreciate these respites from the loudness and (to me) chaos of life outside the apartment. My brain has to work so hard to just keep up with normal life. Sometimes I feel like George Jetson on the treadmill after the cat scares the dog and the treadmill speeds up to beyond his ability to keep up.

But Jesus will keep me, hold me, lift me.

Have a great Sunday and Monday everyone. Summer's a-coming!

It's the end of #sluglife. For now...

By Elizabeth Prata

This morning is the true first morning of Spring Break. I am at home, not at school. I am not hurrying to the copy room to copy the day's papers. I am not on the walkie calling for cleanup of the puke in the hall. I am not on duty in the loud lunchroom. I am not at my desk quickly reading the day's Memo of events. I am at home, even this hour at 10:30 am, in my pj's. I drank lovely coffee slowly, not gulped. I wrote a blog on The End Time about music. I have been listening to the Gaither channel on Pandora. I am content.

This is the scene:

Start the day off right, not just with coffee, but make it 'weekend special' by adding whipped cream.

My table/desk. Coffee, laptop, book in progress, and notes for next blog:

My constant companion while I write (only in the morning, in the afternoon he goes and climbs under the covers and stays in bed the rest of the day) Murray-

My afternoon plans. I'll get dressed and put away the laundry, also make the bed (hard to do with Murray in it) and then spend the afternoon reading. I have a lot of books on deck.

In case you can't see the titles on a small phone screen, they are:

• Lit! Tony Reinke
• Visual Guide to the Bible, Challies & Byers
• In a Different Key: The Story of Autism, Donvan & Zucker
• The Believer's Joy, M'Cheyne
• It Can't Happen Here, Sinclair Lewis
• Valley of Vision, Abbott, editor
• Work & our Labor in the Lord, Hamilton
• Idols of a Mother's Heart, Fox
• Internet Inferno, Beasley
• Banner of Truth Magazine
• Southern Living

My food prep this week will still continue. I need to eat stuff and since I am the only one here, I have to cook it. I am working very hard not to have any processed food or any junk food etc. Meals to come:

Dinners:
Rice noodles with tofu and green beans
Baked spaghetti with spinach and mushrooms
Enchiladas with fresh cheese and avocado on top

Lunches:
Crabcake sandwich
Turkey sandwich
Green salads

Sides:
Fruit (bananas, grapes, peaches, ugli fruit, plums)
Nuts

I bought several gluten-free items Friday, which KILLED my budget, but I figured I'd try a few items and then frugally seed them into the occasional weekly menu. I got:

Freschetta pizza
Ezekiel sprouted grain bread
Bagels
Waffles
Base Camp blonde brownie
G-F spaghetti

That's $30 right there. Each gluten free item generally costs at minimum, $5. The pizza was $10. The spaghetti was on sale as was the brownie. Still. I cannot forsee buying all of these each week. Maybe one of them, once per month. But I am trying them and then keeping track of how I like them so I can make a mindful choice as to how to enhance my menus without getting sick all the time. I'll review them at some point soon.

OK I better get moving if I am to get on my schedule for reading by noon!

How happy

It's Spring Break. I'm off this week. No kids, no school, no bells, no duties. Just leggings and my oversize tee shirt and naps and kitties and BOOKS.

How happy am I.

Here is what I have been up to.

I have a pile of books I want to make serious headway in. Aside from blogging and answering technical theological questions from readers, both of which take up a lot of my day, I will be reading my Bible regularly in the Michael Coley Bible Reading Plan our church is doing together.

I also am 2 weeks behind in the Biblical Doctrine study I am doing with ladies in a Facebook Group. The study is authored by Jess Pickowcz, wife of Pastor Nathan Pickowicz, an author and a church planter up in New Hampshire.

I am listening to Dr Abner Chou's lectures in Exodus.

My duties and pleasures in the biblical realms concluded, I turn to the books I'm reading. I finished two of them, David Gibson's Living Life Backwards, lessons from Ecclesiastes, and Kris Lundgaard's The Enemy Within. Both were excellent. The enemy within is our sin nature, and it's a really convicting book.

I am still going through Reckless Faith and then someone gave me a book from my Amazon Wish List (I love Amazon Wish Lists, especially other people's- then I KNOW what to get them!), the book on Discipleship by Boice. I can't wait to start that today. Reckless Faith doesn't have a dust jacket, that's why I wrote the title on it. It is about having discernment.

Then there are the secular books.

A friend had recommended the Mrs Pollifax series, a grandma who winds up going undercover for the CIA, lol. Christy is about a 19-year old missionary to Appalachia in the 19-teens, a books I'd read as a teenager but missed the Christian parts. It is based on a true story but told in novel form.

Plants & Herbs of the Bible is browsable, meaning, each page is a stand-alone description of the plant featured on that page. Getting the Picture is a chronological overview of famed photographer John Naar's life.

Periodicals!

The Biblical Doctrine books is a monster, It's heavy and it's thick. I had a hard time handling it while reading it, so I bought this:

I was worried that the book would not fit, but one reviewer said his heavy Law Books fit on it, so I tried it. For $12.99 and free shipping it fills the bill!

I'm having tea from a china cup, because it's chilly outside. After 83 degrees yesterday, a cold front came through and now there is a freeze warning out for tonight. Go figure.

Well I better get back to it. Instead of writing about reading books, I should start reading books! Have a good one everyone!

Enjoying the first day of Spring Break

The long awaited Spring Break is here. I went to bed last night after a very busy day at school and after school, and at home...tired, bleary, tapped out and running on vaporous reserves. I woke up this morning after 9 hours' great sleep to a glowingly gorgeous morning of birdsong, bright sun, and beautiful flowers. Cant be better, right?

It does get even better! Read on for more.

I had to go into Athens Friday late afternoon, and I wasn't looking forward to it. Though in my youth I drove all over the place without being fazed, as I age, my reflexes are slowing and my 'startle-reaction' is more sensitive. For example, people changing lanes suddenly in front of me startles me more than is used to, and the momentary fright lasts longer. I'm more skittish about cars around me. Too much sensory input while on the highway at high speed is burdensome to my brain and eyes, where it bothered me much less in my 30s.  After a long week and a very long day with the kids at school, I was exhausted and wanting to go home.

Their weekly sale included a pint of blackberries for $1.88, and tofu., s I scooped both those up.I found some GREAT deals on the markdown tables. There was a packet of two slices of chocolate frosted cake, and on the fish aisle, a little more than half a pound of smoked salmon for $3!!

Frugal shopping on the fly means that when you see tofu for sale, you get veggies for a stir fry. When you see smoked salmon, you get cream cheese.

Well, eventually, of course, I did get home. As I parked in the garage and opened my trunk to extract the groceries, a moving van pulled up. The tenants on the other side of the house had moved out a day or two ago, and it seemed that the landlord had quickly found new people to take their place. We all spoke in the driveway for a while, they are super nice. I know that since the economy had settled down after the crash of 2008, fewer houses are being foreclosed, fewer people are moving and the occupancy rates for various cities and counties are reaching maximum. In other words, people are staying put. So rents are hard to find, or so I'm told.In any case, I'm glad this family found a nice place to live.

Have you ever considered what a service to the community being a landlord is? Providing housing to people, maintaining a nice place for them to raise their kids, dealing with tenants fairly and honestly? It's a really good thing.

At Kroger it was nuts, so many cars gridlocked getting gas and the grocery store itself, while not overcrowded, was busier that I'd seen it. Must be the Spring Break thing.

I got home, unloaded groceries, fed the cats, straightened up, watched a few videos, and went to sleep. Blessed unconsciousness, no sensory input, and perfect bodily comfort with the bed clothes and covers.


The next morning, I awoke to this. Sun! Birds! Blue Sky! Flowers! Yay!

These baby birdies are in a nest the mama had made in the windowsill of the window that has the air conditioner. Their peeps are so cute!

New neighbor's cactus

I've been wondering where the male cardinals have gone. I know they're still around, but I used to see them closer to the house, feeding on worms near my front door, even. This guy was about 150 feet away from me, halfway up a tall tree.

Pretty dogwood tree, my favorite in the whole yard. Blooming in the sun on a spring morning. Ahhh

For breakfast, I used some of the smoked salmon to make a pate that included cream cheese (softened), lemon juice and instead of capers, minced olives. I spread the salmon pate on toasted multi-grain artisan bread (another Kroger marked down item). The blackberries went on my plate of course, as did a yellow gold potato I'd roasted in the crock pot a few days ago. It sounds fancy, and it probably is, but it was done on a budget.

Today is supposed to be in the upper 70s and I plan to stand at my potter's table and clean out my pots and refresh my outside plants that made it through the winter. In another few weeks the threat of frost will have passed and I will get some plants to put in the pots. I sure do love flowers. And birds. And warm sunny mornings. And life!

Spring break is finally here

I am officially on Spring Break.

The stretch between breaks at school was a long one this time. I don't know why I was asleep at the switch last year when the school calendar proposal became available for voting on, but this one escaped me. I didn't see the long time between breaks. This week's vacation is a week later than usual. We usually have break from the last few days in March at the end of the first weekend in April. The February long weekend break was deleted, so even that little stress-relieving hop from January to February to the end of March was absent. Losing Feb break and the later week for Spring Break made a difference. We went from January 6 to April 6 without a break except for Martin Luther King day.

A school is a living organism. The emotions, intensity, climate all build as the year progresses, the children mature, and the curriculum gets progressively more difficult. Stress is palpable. The teachers and staff get tired but the children get tired too. In many cases, they live busier lives than some staff! Some kids arrive at school as early as 7:15 and some children whose parents work are not picked up from the After School Program until 5:00, 5:30, or even 6:00. They go to music lessons, church, ball practice, or on errands with mom or dad. It is a looong day for them. Add 12 weeks of long days and you have an environment where the week off is very needed and very welcome.


I plan to do the things I always do. Listen to the birds outside. Sit in the swing on a sunny day and read. Nap on my 110 year old four-post bed in the sun with my cats curled on my feet. Write and study. I am going to start a biography by Temple Grandin, a theological book by John MacArthur, and short stories by Herman Melville (Moby-Dick author). I put the car in the garage and do not plan on taking it out at all except Sunday and Sunday for church.

These things which I enjoy so much are absent of noise and absent of people. When my noise-overloaded brain is ready, I plan to watch some movies. Mr Pip with Hugh Laurie looks good:

As a war rages on in the province of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea, a young girl becomes transfixed by the Charles Dickens novel Great Expectations, which is being read at school by the only white man in the village.

The Well-Digger's Daughter also looks good.

In 1930s southern France, a father is torn between his sense of honor and his deep love for his daughter when she gets in trouble with the wealthy son of a shopkeeper.

As does the television mini-series The Indian Doctor.

When a sleepy 1960s Welsh mining town's only doctor dies, the only replacement the union representative could find arrives, straight from India. To everyone's surprise, he's better educated and more cultured then anyone they know, yet friendly and eager to help. His wife however looks down on the 'peasants', compared to viceregal Delhi, and wants him to move to London.

These are films that seem culturally interesting to me, will feature great scenery, and be pretty to look at. Meanwhile, though I have been awake and up for only three hours, I am going to take my first nap.