My brother's wife was in a car wreck yesterday. We found out just before we went to bed last night. I don't have all the details yet but she was in the hospital yesterday to get checked out. I think she rear-ended someone. My mother didn't think she was seriously injured, but I'm sure my brother and their 3 little children are going through some tense moments right now. I would cherish your prayers for them.
I've been busy the past couple days cleaning house and cooking and reading and researching curriculums on the internet. I'd rather have been in my bed since I had a two-day headache, but with the sun shining bright outside I just couldn't waste either of the days by laying around!! And then what a blessing I received yesterday when I was able to talk to Samantha on the phone!!! Hooray!!! A lot has happened since I left Texas. Her baby is walking now (and has been for quite some time), but I still imagined her as the sweet little baby I last saw 9 months ago! ;-)
Tonight we have company coming for dinner. (That explains the cooking and cleaning I've been doing!) I like having guests over because it provides the motivation I need to get the house in order. And who among us DOESN'T need to be motivated to CLEAN!! I like having a picked-up house, with everything in its place, but I hate to scrub toilets, clean sinks, dust, and all that labor intensive stuff one must do to have a clean house....
Right now there is a cake in my oven, which is emitting a most delicious aroma throughout the house. It is tonight's dessert:
Cream Cheese Pound Cake
3 sticks of softened butter
1 8 oz pkg of cream cheese, softened
3 c. sugar
6 eggs
3 c. sifted flour
2 tsp vanilla
Combine butter and cream cheese, beat well with heavy duty mixer. Gradually add sugar; beat until light and fluffy (about 5 min.) Add eggs, one at a time; beat well after each addition. Add flour to creamed mixture; beat well. Stir in vanilla. Pour batter into a well greased bundt pan. Bake at 325 for 1 hour 30 min or until cake tests done. Cool in pan 10 min., remove from pan and cool completely.
__________________________
May your day be sunny and bright! Make a memory with someone you love!
Rejoice Evermore!
Marla
Wednesday, March 31, 2004
Monday, March 29, 2004
How Swede It Is....
The following is an interesting article for anyone who wants to find out what the typical Swede is like, or what life is like in Sweden. After living here for 9 months, I find most of this stuff to be true....
____________________________
Meet the neighbors - Swedes Dour, Lutheran conservatives? Or communists in Volvos?
By CHRISTOPHER BROWN-HUMES
Here is a joke about Swedes. A group of men are marooned on a desert island. After five days, the British, the French, the Italians and Germans have chopped trees, built huts, fished and cooked; the Swedes are still waiting to be introduced to one another.
The notion that Swedes are shy, taciturn, stiff and reserved is a common one. Critics, and they include many immigrants from warmer climes, go further and argue that Swedes are cold, boring people, who don't know how to have fun. But, says the British film-maker Colin Nutley, who has lived in Sweden for the last 11 years, "to paint Swedes as cold is absolutely unfair.
They are very warm, but it takes time to get to know them."
Ask someone from the UK, for instance, what they know about Sweden, and Volvo and Ikea would certainly rate a mention, alongside the pop group Abba; Bjorn Borg, the 1970s tennis star; Sven-Goran Eriksson, the England football manager; and Ulrika Jonsson, a TV personality. Press them further, and they will say in Sweden the sun never shines, the girls are beautiful, the suicide rate high and pornography and promiscuity widespread. However, there is little real evidence that suicide rates are higher in Sweden than elsewhere. And it's certainly not clear that young Swedes are any more promiscuous than young people elsewhere. Anglo-Saxon culture sometimes confuses nakedness with sex: Swedes are simply less prudish.
Modern Sweden has been shaped by three things: a long Lutheran tradition (hard work, simplicity and honesty, spiked with a certain dourness); the past 70 years, during which the Social Democrats have maintained a virtually unbroken grip on power; and a history of neutrality and non-alliance - an isolationist streak apparent last September when Swedes voted no to the euro.
Swedish social behaviour often operates according to the so-called Jante Law (derived from a fictitious Danish town called Jante, which had its own set of laws acting as a moral code. One was: "Thou shalt not believe thou art something."). "You shouldn't appear to be or pretend to be better than you are. On the contrary, you should minimise your qualities," says Ake Daun, professor of ethnology at Stockholm University and author of Swedish Mentality.
That's why there are so few Rolls-Royces to be found in Sweden - they are too conspicuous a sign of success - and why even the country's richest people don't have flamboyant lifestyles. To be average is to be safe. Underpinning the Jante Law is Sweden's strong egalitarian culture. "It's the most egalitarian society in the world, with the possible exception of Norway," says Sten Westerberg, a partner at Leimdorfer investment bank. High tax rates and a strong welfare state are at the centre of a vast redistributive scheme orchestrated by successive Social Democratic governments since the 1930s. It's a world away from, say, Singapore, which has low taxes and limited welfare. "Swedes are communists driving Volvos," grumbles one foreign businessman.
Redistribution traditionally meant no big differences in Swedish after-tax incomes. That is slowly changing, thanks to the influence of Anglo-Saxon business and pay practices. This in turn has brought envy and resentment. In fact, in Sweden you are far more likely to come across a money scandal than a sex scandal.
Swedes try to avoid conflict in their dealings with others. Blazing rows are rare. The rational takes precedence over the emotional. The word "lagom", which means "not too much, just enough", is often used to describe Swedish moderation. Everyday life is based around consensus and compromise. Foreign businessmen say the result is often slow decision-making and it frustrates them.
It is easy to forget there are just 9 million Swedes. Yet its list of universally recognised multinationals, including Volvo, Ericsson, Ikea, Tetra Pak, Electrolux and Hennes & Mauritz, is one that would stir the pride of a nation with a population many times that. "Swedes are 10 years ahead in some respects and 10 years behind in others," says an executive with a foreign multinational. They may be progressive in sexual matters, such as homosexual marriages, but are very conservative when it comes to alcohol and drugs (alcohol abuse was widespread in the 19th century). Alcohol is still only sold through state-run outlets; pharmacies are also part of a state monopoly. Many people who live in the big cities did not grow up there - and they still have relatives or country cottages in the middle of nowhere.
Swedish pleasures are the same as they have been for centuries: walking in
the forest, sailing their boats, hunting. "It's a very conservative country. Once outside Stockholm, it feels like you are stepping back in time," says Nutley.
FT WEEKEND MAGAZINE - Archetypes
27 March 2004
Financial Times, Page 81
(c) 2004 The Financial Times Limited.
Saturday, March 27, 2004
They're not sorry, but I am...
__________________________
"GET READY FOR APRIL 25
Soapbox is part of a campaign to strengthen abortion rights (we really need one now). So, in addition to heading to Washington, D.C. for the April 25th March for Women's Lives, we're working on the "I'm Not Sorry Day" campaign.
"I'm Not Sorry Day” is a recasting of the January 22nd Roe v. Wade anniversary. It's a film documenting real women's experiences with abortion. It's a T-shirt campaign that says having an abortion is not a dirty little secret. (It says simply "I had an Abortion”.) It's a movement that tells the truth: that women might be sorry to need an abortion, but they aren't sorry that they had access to one."
__________________________
Are you as shocked by this as I am???
"GET READY FOR APRIL 25
Soapbox is part of a campaign to strengthen abortion rights (we really need one now). So, in addition to heading to Washington, D.C. for the April 25th March for Women's Lives, we're working on the "I'm Not Sorry Day" campaign.
"I'm Not Sorry Day” is a recasting of the January 22nd Roe v. Wade anniversary. It's a film documenting real women's experiences with abortion. It's a T-shirt campaign that says having an abortion is not a dirty little secret. (It says simply "I had an Abortion”.) It's a movement that tells the truth: that women might be sorry to need an abortion, but they aren't sorry that they had access to one."
__________________________
Are you as shocked by this as I am???
A Poem From My Past
Break The Silence
There are wonderful words that I need to say
I will no longer save them for some other day
Bold and with love the truth I must speak
No more time wasted being puny and weak
Today I will open my mouth and let go
I will tell all my friends - soon they will know
Of the One who abides in my heart, my mind
He is the One I must help them to find
Before its too late I must this silence break
Not another moment spent in burning heartache
Nor burdened by guilt or spine tingling fear
Why wait any longer, the time is now here
I tell you today, that Jesus loves you
On a cruel cross, His love He did prove
But death could not hold Him, try as it may
There was no way He'd stay in the grave
Sin He has conquered, our debt He has paid
If we but believe it, in Him place our faith
You'll be His forever, it's you that He loves
He'll be waiting to greet you in Heaven above
No more time can be wasted, the answer is here
No more words can be spent just tickling the ear
The silence is broken, the Good News abroad
Now you know of the grace of our God
________________________
As you may have guessed, this poem comes from a time in my life when I felt I held a most precious gift in my hand, yet I was afraid to share it with others. Being somewhat of an introvert all my life has caused me much grief in my spiritual life. I wanted to proclaim as Paul did the Good News of our Lord and Saviour, but stupid fears would get in the way of my tongue being loosened. What was I so afraid of? Afraid of being laughed at. Afraid of not being able to adequately defend my faith. Of not knowing all the answers. Sometimes I justified my fears and told myself that my day to day life as a Christian would be enough. I admired other Christian women I knew who so graciously seasoned their speech with "salt." They knew how to talk about the Lord as if He really was there with them throughout their day. That was hard for me.
Look at this verse: (Acts 4:13)
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.
This gives me HOPE! Peter and John were perceived as being "unlearned and ignorant", yet they were bold for the Lord. Moses whined to God about being "slow of speech", and having a "slow tongue." He must have hoped that God would let him off the hook, thinking he had a pretty good excuse. Hardly.
The Lord promised to help Moses, that He Himself would be with his mouth and that He would teach him what to say. Truly, the Lord is my helper. Too many times I depend on myself, and not on Him. This explains why my life verse is Proverbs 3:5-6. It is a constant reminder to me that I need to TRUST HIM, not myself.
Rejoice evermore!
Marla
There are wonderful words that I need to say
I will no longer save them for some other day
Bold and with love the truth I must speak
No more time wasted being puny and weak
Today I will open my mouth and let go
I will tell all my friends - soon they will know
Of the One who abides in my heart, my mind
He is the One I must help them to find
Before its too late I must this silence break
Not another moment spent in burning heartache
Nor burdened by guilt or spine tingling fear
Why wait any longer, the time is now here
I tell you today, that Jesus loves you
On a cruel cross, His love He did prove
But death could not hold Him, try as it may
There was no way He'd stay in the grave
Sin He has conquered, our debt He has paid
If we but believe it, in Him place our faith
You'll be His forever, it's you that He loves
He'll be waiting to greet you in Heaven above
No more time can be wasted, the answer is here
No more words can be spent just tickling the ear
The silence is broken, the Good News abroad
Now you know of the grace of our God
________________________
As you may have guessed, this poem comes from a time in my life when I felt I held a most precious gift in my hand, yet I was afraid to share it with others. Being somewhat of an introvert all my life has caused me much grief in my spiritual life. I wanted to proclaim as Paul did the Good News of our Lord and Saviour, but stupid fears would get in the way of my tongue being loosened. What was I so afraid of? Afraid of being laughed at. Afraid of not being able to adequately defend my faith. Of not knowing all the answers. Sometimes I justified my fears and told myself that my day to day life as a Christian would be enough. I admired other Christian women I knew who so graciously seasoned their speech with "salt." They knew how to talk about the Lord as if He really was there with them throughout their day. That was hard for me.
Look at this verse: (Acts 4:13)
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.
This gives me HOPE! Peter and John were perceived as being "unlearned and ignorant", yet they were bold for the Lord. Moses whined to God about being "slow of speech", and having a "slow tongue." He must have hoped that God would let him off the hook, thinking he had a pretty good excuse. Hardly.
The Lord promised to help Moses, that He Himself would be with his mouth and that He would teach him what to say. Truly, the Lord is my helper. Too many times I depend on myself, and not on Him. This explains why my life verse is Proverbs 3:5-6. It is a constant reminder to me that I need to TRUST HIM, not myself.
Rejoice evermore!
Marla
Thursday, March 25, 2004
"Marriage is unrelated to parenthood..."
...so the Scandinavians would have us believe.
This is a deeply troubling issue. Marriage is dying in Scandinavia. The majority of children in Sweden and Norway are born out of wedlock. Even more suprising than these sad statistics is the idea that a couple's relationship is experimental through the birth of their first child.
"So as Scandinavians separated the ideas of marriage and parenthood, family dissolution rates rose -- placing first-born children at particular risk. The growing Scandinavian separation of marriage and parenthood made it difficult to deny marriage to same-sex couples."
Liberals and feminists of America admire Sweden and hold it up as the shining example of the ideal state. They either do not see the flaws of their perfect example, or they choose to ignore them. Broken families, children spending their childhood in day cares, and the acceptance of homosexuality lead to the destruction of the family.
For "except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it." (Psalm 127:1)
________________
Rejoice evermore!
Marla
This is a deeply troubling issue. Marriage is dying in Scandinavia. The majority of children in Sweden and Norway are born out of wedlock. Even more suprising than these sad statistics is the idea that a couple's relationship is experimental through the birth of their first child.
"So as Scandinavians separated the ideas of marriage and parenthood, family dissolution rates rose -- placing first-born children at particular risk. The growing Scandinavian separation of marriage and parenthood made it difficult to deny marriage to same-sex couples."
Liberals and feminists of America admire Sweden and hold it up as the shining example of the ideal state. They either do not see the flaws of their perfect example, or they choose to ignore them. Broken families, children spending their childhood in day cares, and the acceptance of homosexuality lead to the destruction of the family.
For "except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it." (Psalm 127:1)
________________
Rejoice evermore!
Marla
Tuesday, March 23, 2004
Good News!
Yesterday my dear husband gave me the thumbs up to begin our homeschooling adventure for the upcoming school year! He said he knew it was something I've been thinking about and reading about for the past 5 years, and he thought it was time to let me run with it now. Woo-Hoo!!
I am jumping up and down (on the inside). I am also pale and shaky at the prospect of choosing a curriculum. So many to choose from! I have been going through Sonlight's web sight, Math U See, and Singapore Math. I don't care for Calvert.
I want something good for first year homeschoolers, for active 3rd and 5th gr. boys, and which would be an all-inclusive package curriculum (because of our overseas situation), AND provide us with some flexibility so that we can do lots of field trips and take advantage of foreign travel/learning opportunities.
My oldest son does not like to read (even though he can read well.) He likes it when I read to him though. And I am hoping that removing him from the "school" environment will release him from whatever has caused him to dislike reading. He is a straight A student. But he still needs to memorize multiplication facts (6 and up), needs lots of cursive writing practice, says he doesn't like to draw, and in general he only does what needs doing, but doesn't go beyond that. I'd like to see him take more pride in his work, to slow down and enjoy the process instead of rushing through it as fast as he can so he can go do something else.
I imagine my youngest son to be a joy to teach. He's very compliant and likes to learn. He is interested in Medieval times, castles, knights, etc. He likes to help me in the kitchen. He likes to read but he is so tired of the boring, repetitive homework from school. He is gentle and sensitive, yet he loves a good wrestle session with his brother.
I can't wait to watch them bloom. I have high hopes. I have great expectations of what homeschooling will do for them (and for me!) I'm excited about giving them a biblical foundation for all of their education and watching them grow in the Lord. I am thankful to know there are so many homeschooling families out there who are doing it now, and who are doing it well. They motivate me, challenge me, and encourage me! Thank you!
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your path."
~Proverbs 3:5-6
Rejoice evermore!
Marla
I am jumping up and down (on the inside). I am also pale and shaky at the prospect of choosing a curriculum. So many to choose from! I have been going through Sonlight's web sight, Math U See, and Singapore Math. I don't care for Calvert.
I want something good for first year homeschoolers, for active 3rd and 5th gr. boys, and which would be an all-inclusive package curriculum (because of our overseas situation), AND provide us with some flexibility so that we can do lots of field trips and take advantage of foreign travel/learning opportunities.
My oldest son does not like to read (even though he can read well.) He likes it when I read to him though. And I am hoping that removing him from the "school" environment will release him from whatever has caused him to dislike reading. He is a straight A student. But he still needs to memorize multiplication facts (6 and up), needs lots of cursive writing practice, says he doesn't like to draw, and in general he only does what needs doing, but doesn't go beyond that. I'd like to see him take more pride in his work, to slow down and enjoy the process instead of rushing through it as fast as he can so he can go do something else.
I imagine my youngest son to be a joy to teach. He's very compliant and likes to learn. He is interested in Medieval times, castles, knights, etc. He likes to help me in the kitchen. He likes to read but he is so tired of the boring, repetitive homework from school. He is gentle and sensitive, yet he loves a good wrestle session with his brother.
I can't wait to watch them bloom. I have high hopes. I have great expectations of what homeschooling will do for them (and for me!) I'm excited about giving them a biblical foundation for all of their education and watching them grow in the Lord. I am thankful to know there are so many homeschooling families out there who are doing it now, and who are doing it well. They motivate me, challenge me, and encourage me! Thank you!
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your path."
~Proverbs 3:5-6
Rejoice evermore!
Marla
Monday, March 22, 2004
It's Laundry Day!
(That's not at my house, that's laundry hanging in Italy!) I love the smell of freshly washed clothes! I don't really LIKE doing the laundry, but I like having clean clothes hanging in everyone's closet and folded neatly in our drawers. I do laundry once a week, on Mondays. I sort it all out, everything from towels, to my clothes to the boys' clothes. Then I keep the washer and dryer going ALL day, folding and putting away what I take from the dryer. For a couple years now I have been air drying all of my children's nice clothes because I got tired of the dryer shrinking and fading everything. Drying them this way has also kept our hand-me-downs looking almost as good as new! Swedish washer and dryers are considerably smaller than U.S. ones. They also take longer to go through a cycle. But since I air dry some clothes, it works out ok. While they are laying flat to dry, towels and whites and play clothes are drying in the dryer.
This reminds me of a poem I found a long time ago:
The Clothesline
A clothesline was a news forecast
To neighbors passing by.
There were no secrets you could keep
When clothes were hung to dry.
It also was a friendly link
For neighbors always knew
If company had stopped on by
To spend a night or two.
For then you'd see the fancy sheets
and towels on the line;
You'd see the comp'ny tablecloths
With intricate design.
The line announced a baby's birth
To folks who lived inside
As brand new infant clothes were hung
So carefully with pride.
The ages of the children could
So readily be known
By watching how the sizes changed
You'd know how much they'd grown.
It also told when illness struck,
As extra sheets were hung;
Then nightclothes, and a bathrobe, too,
Haphazardly were strung.
It said, "Gone on vacation now"
When lines hung limp and bare.
It told "We're back!" when full lines sagged
With not an inch to spare.
New folks in town were scorned upon
If wash was dingy gray,
As neighbors raised their brows, and looked
Disgustedly away.
But clotheslines now are of the past
For dryers make work less.
Now what goes on inside a home
Is anybody's guess.
I really miss that way of life.
It was a friendly sign
When neighbors knew each other best
By what hung on the line!
Marilyn Walker
I have a picture of ~N~ when he was about 2 years old (which I tried to post but all you could see was that dern red x.) In the picture, he is standing underneath our clothesline where his blanky is hanging out to dry. When he saw it there he grabbed the corner and began sucking his thumb with it! I'll have to do some more research to figure out why the photo didn't post properly.
Rejoice evermore!
Marla
(That's not at my house, that's laundry hanging in Italy!) I love the smell of freshly washed clothes! I don't really LIKE doing the laundry, but I like having clean clothes hanging in everyone's closet and folded neatly in our drawers. I do laundry once a week, on Mondays. I sort it all out, everything from towels, to my clothes to the boys' clothes. Then I keep the washer and dryer going ALL day, folding and putting away what I take from the dryer. For a couple years now I have been air drying all of my children's nice clothes because I got tired of the dryer shrinking and fading everything. Drying them this way has also kept our hand-me-downs looking almost as good as new! Swedish washer and dryers are considerably smaller than U.S. ones. They also take longer to go through a cycle. But since I air dry some clothes, it works out ok. While they are laying flat to dry, towels and whites and play clothes are drying in the dryer.
This reminds me of a poem I found a long time ago:
The Clothesline
A clothesline was a news forecast
To neighbors passing by.
There were no secrets you could keep
When clothes were hung to dry.
It also was a friendly link
For neighbors always knew
If company had stopped on by
To spend a night or two.
For then you'd see the fancy sheets
and towels on the line;
You'd see the comp'ny tablecloths
With intricate design.
The line announced a baby's birth
To folks who lived inside
As brand new infant clothes were hung
So carefully with pride.
The ages of the children could
So readily be known
By watching how the sizes changed
You'd know how much they'd grown.
It also told when illness struck,
As extra sheets were hung;
Then nightclothes, and a bathrobe, too,
Haphazardly were strung.
It said, "Gone on vacation now"
When lines hung limp and bare.
It told "We're back!" when full lines sagged
With not an inch to spare.
New folks in town were scorned upon
If wash was dingy gray,
As neighbors raised their brows, and looked
Disgustedly away.
But clotheslines now are of the past
For dryers make work less.
Now what goes on inside a home
Is anybody's guess.
I really miss that way of life.
It was a friendly sign
When neighbors knew each other best
By what hung on the line!
Marilyn Walker
I have a picture of ~N~ when he was about 2 years old (which I tried to post but all you could see was that dern red x.) In the picture, he is standing underneath our clothesline where his blanky is hanging out to dry. When he saw it there he grabbed the corner and began sucking his thumb with it! I'll have to do some more research to figure out why the photo didn't post properly.
Rejoice evermore!
Marla
Saturday, March 20, 2004
SO.
I am giving up on Upsaid! I'm usually a pretty patient person, but I figure Upsaid has more issues than they know how to deal with now. When they get up and running again ( IF they do...) I'll clean house with them and transfer everything here. If I can figure out how to do it!
__________________________________
Yesterday we received a surprise package from my sister-in-law! She sent each of the boys four shirts (which she found on clearance for $2 each!) She also included four plastic Easter eggs full of candy - Skittles, and my favorite, NERDS!!! Nothing lifts our spirits quite like a care package from home! (Note: maybe our spirits were lifted due to a sugar high from all the candy??)
Rejoice evermore!
Marla
I am giving up on Upsaid! I'm usually a pretty patient person, but I figure Upsaid has more issues than they know how to deal with now. When they get up and running again ( IF they do...) I'll clean house with them and transfer everything here. If I can figure out how to do it!
__________________________________
Yesterday we received a surprise package from my sister-in-law! She sent each of the boys four shirts (which she found on clearance for $2 each!) She also included four plastic Easter eggs full of candy - Skittles, and my favorite, NERDS!!! Nothing lifts our spirits quite like a care package from home! (Note: maybe our spirits were lifted due to a sugar high from all the candy??)
Rejoice evermore!
Marla
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