SNACK CENTER

This was a GREAT idea that Anita, one of our produce members, shared. This is our snack center and the children know that they can eat from it as much and as often as they'd like. I also pull it out at lunch and dinner time. The cauliflower isn't going anywhere but I've had to refill the other slots a couple of times.....oh and the celery...well *I* grab a piece every time I grab something else...

Ranch Bath?

Can you tell what is going on here? Thank goodness she had stripped her clothes off before THIS. Yes, that's the ranch dressing in her hand....and all over the floor...and she was LAUGHING and crying at the same time.

First time *WE'VE* seen this in TX

...though others tell me they get snow here "often"

Josiah's New Uniform

*The funny thing about these photos is that I had to make him sit down because I couldn't get the perspective right with him standing...he's too much taller than I. He's got to be 6'3" or 6'4" by now...I need to measure him.

Surprising Sunday

~It's cold.....and we've had freezing rain, ice, and snow....that certainly counts for surprising.

~Mike called - which is surprising and we were thrilled. He reports he has now ridden a camel. Mike, Zander wanted to know "how many humps" when we told him. I hadn't thought to ask.

~A friend, Margie, stopped by and surprised me with a beautiful calendar.....She said it reminded her of me: Teapot & Tea Calendar. Each month features a tea pot, with tidbits about pots, teas and such in the side bar, and quotes sprinkled here and there. Another fun thing to check out are all the scrumptious looking tea treats. (photo won't load)

~We've simply set around and read, played games, watched Gilligan's Island and Hogan's Heroes....nothing very surprising about that. LOL

*Stolen Lives Twenty Years in a Desert Jail* by Malika Oufkir and Michele Fitoussi

I was browsing the new shelf in our small branch library when a book caught my eye. Upon further investigation I discovered that the book was sequel to an “international best seller” about the author’s childhood. Our little branch library HAD the first book too, so I checked both out.

From the book jacket:
“Malika Oufkir has spent virtually her whole life as a prisoner. Born in 1953, the eldest daughter of General Oufkir, the King of Morocco’s closest aide, Malika was adopted by the King at the age of five, and was brought up as the companion to his little daughter. Spending most of her childhood and adolescence in the seclusion of the court harem, Malika was one of the most eligible heiresses in the kingdom, surrounded by luxury and extraordinary privilege.

“Then on August 16th, 1972, her father was arrested and executed after an attempt to assassinate the King. Malika, her five siblings, and her mother were immediately imprisoned in a penal colony. After fifteen years, the last ten of which they spent locked up in solitary cells, the Oufkir children managed to dig a tunnel with their bare hands and make a daring escape...though they were recaptured after only five days of freedom. Malika was finally able to leave Morocco and begin a new life in exile in 1996.

“*Stolen Lives* is a heart-rending account of resilience in the face of extreme deprivation, of the courage and even humor with which one family faced their tormented fate. A shocking true story, it is hard to comprehend that it could have happened in our own times. “

I found *Stolen Lives* haunting. I found myself contemplating what I had been doing those same 20 years when Malika was imprisoned for the crimes of her father. I did not agree with all her religious thoughts, life-style or such…but I did find this book to be an incredible story and one that will stay with me for years to come.

I just went looking for a photo to post with this and discovered that this book is an “Oprah Book of the Month”. ::snort:: I swore off Oprah’s books years ago as I found the two I read to be incredibly dark, strange, immoral and depressing. I’m glad there was no “O” on the cover of my library’s edition, I’m not sure I would have read it. Silly, but true.

SPECTACULAR SATURDAY!

~Snow off and on all day - not enough to stick, but enough to see the teeny, tiny flakes falling

~Freezing rain this a.m. and more expected tonight

~icicles hanging from our roof...this is NEW for down here...and ice on the trampoline

~Talked to FIVE more agents at the credit card company - seems that the payment I've been trying to make since November was JUST rejected again - which means all that budgeting to be able to make huge payments by Jan 15th and now I have a balance anyway on the 15th. One agent told me that he had put a "suppress all fees" note on the account....another said "Oh well - you will have to pay that since now you have a balance." I have to go on Tuesday and give a paper check to the local bank...and then you can bet I'll call and make sure they take that fee off because I've been following their directions on this payment since NOVEMBER and they can see I paid two big buck payments last week. They wondered why I have quit using the card...duh! They keep crediting and then taking away thousands of dollars.....do ya think you'd use the thing????? No, we don't have huge debt. We have lived the Dave Ramsey way for 11 years. BUT we charge all and pay it every month...they have been going back and forth on two months of payments since November. We do this so we have airline tickets to fly home - er - to AK. LOL

~Played Apple to Apple

~Watched movies - "Cars" and now Hogans Heroes....