Wisdom – Page 7 – Home's Cool!

'Tis the Season, Home School, P.S. Fail., Wisdom

Not another dead child…

Posted on April 26, 2014April 27, 2014 by Katharine

At just after 7:00 a.m., at Jonathan Law school, a 16-year-old Connecticut honor student was stabbed to death (no guns in Conn.) because she did the honorable thing:

She told a boy who asked her out, “no”. She did not want to go out with him.

Do we wonder why? Did she know he was bad news? Did she not feel safe? Did she know his reputation?

Did she not even date? My daughter would have said, “no” because she was too young to date…

“The greatest concern we have is for students who are hurting will keep it inside,” Feser said. “We want them to know we are here for them.”

State Sen. Gayle Slossberg, D-Milford, said she has spoken with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and he said the state is ready to provide whatever services it can.
Police were still on the scene investigating Friday afternoon. Mello said they expect the school to be open for classes Monday.

Really. Their main concern is that the kids won’t talk about their pain after a state-enforced exposure to murder.

Really. the governor is ready to do whatever. Right.

And school will continue, business-as-usual, as in murder-is-the-usual-and-we’ve-already-had-too-many-snow-days-so-please-get-over-it-this-weekend is the usual, in collective schools.

My heart is breaking and it’s not even my daughter, my child, my district, my state, or even my problem. It’s just a sweet little girl-woman murdered by a . . .

Meanwhile, local to me, law enforcement workers recently announced that in light of school violence leading to death, first-aid kits will be provided for every classroom.

Right.

Oh, also, instructions will be provided to every staff, as to how to apply band-aids and antiseptic ointment.

Right.

PEOPLE! Please, please, please homeschool.

_____________

Photo credit: A Call to Repeal ‘Citizens United’ (Photo credit: CT Senate Democrats)

Health, Science, Wisdom

How to Kick that Soda Pop Can on Down the Road

Posted on April 11, 2014February 23, 2015 by Katharine

It’s an addiction.

That’s not a fun thing to hear, but I know you want the truth.

And I’m not just talking about the caffeine or the sugar.

We all hear more every day about how bad carbonated beverages are for us, just for the carbonation, let alone all the fakefood ingredients. It’s a wonder we aren’t all sick and dying of weird stuff.

Wait. Half of us are, right?

It is so hard! But you can do it.*

Okay. The best way to get off is to go in stages, in my opinion. Here are the stages I found helped me.

Kick the caffeine, first. If you are drinking pop with caffeine, switch to non-caffeinated. Why? Because of all the addictions offered up in these drinks, caffeine is the easiest to break. It’s not that caffeine is bad. It can even save your life, But to kick the soda can, you need to drop the caffeinated sodas and if you need caffeine, find another source such as coffee, tea, or chocolate or just do without and save caffeine for when you really need it, or special occasions. Such as mornings!
Dropping caffeine, cold turkey, will give you a mild headache–easily treatable with low doses of pain reliever–and lethargy, for about 3 days. That’s it!
We have a few long weekends coming up, soon . . .
Kick the aspartame. Why? It is the worst part of pop, if you drink sugar-free. Recent research is revealing that habitually consuming aspartame can cause tendencies to heart attack and stroke, and eventually will sabotage weight loss. You can switch to caffeine-free pop or tea that is sweetened with stevia. Or you can drink unsweetened tea, which develops it’s own sweet taste once you no longer are drowning yourself in sweetener.
Think about it. Aspartame has a mile-long list of bad effects, and is addictive.
The withdrawal symptoms, which will last around 21 days, include a headache in the middle of the forehead. mood swings, and flu symptoms. You’ve been drinking poison all the time, after all.
You will sleep better, and feel better all over, if you go through this.
Kick the addiction to something sweet or carb-loaded going down all the time. Why? The tendency toward constant self-gratification is not good for us, and when it comes to sugar, it leads to diabetes.The addiction, though, is what has gotten us all in this boat, in the first place. God made sweet things, yes, but He also cautions against gluttony. I wonder why.
To kick the need for sweets, merely stop eating sugar and starches. You may think I’m joking, but I am not. That will kill the entire problem. Drop all foods with sugar, starch, or sweeteners of any kind. Allow yourself only 20 grams of carbohydrates per day. It will take about 21 days of truth-telling to yourself, to manage this, because sugar is a true addiction, too. Many other addictions are based on it, such as addiction to alcohol, to chocolate, and to bread or potatoes.
Sugar/starch withdrawal symptoms include: Deep cravings for anything with carbohydrates in it, almost overwhelming lethargy, mood swings, and self-lying. Yes, you will lie to yourself and your body will lie to you, telling you that you are about to die for lack of a huge glass of orange juice, or some such. Just drink a huge glass of water and rest for awhile. The craving will pass, only to return. After three or four days, you will have overcome the feeling of dying and will be able to recognize the cravings for the lies they are.

But here is the final and big reason for kicking sugars/starches out the door: They feed cancer.

That’s right: Many cancers cannot survive if they don’t get their sugar high. Starve them away as best you can, while they are yet too small to detect. Your doctor does not know this or has not connected the dots, but you can and should drop sugars and carbohydrates, at least for 21 days. After that, you will be able to feel when you’ve had too much and will be able to control yourself much better, and even to digest the natural sugars in fruits much better. So drop sugar.

And Nutra-Sweet/Aspartame.

And Sucralose.

At least.

__________________________

*Especially if your health is unstable, please ask an intelligent and sympathetic doctor to monitor your health while you drop these addictions! I am not a doctor, but have quoted several doctors, above. I just know how great it feels to be addiction-free, and hope you will find this same great feeling, too.

What is Aspartame?

Inspiring, Wisdom, Womanhood

Overheard: He’s Gonna Getcha.

Posted on March 20, 2014September 11, 2014 by Katharine

I hear a lot of great stuff where I go to church, and the idea of sharing it thrills me.

Then I get nervous.

Maybe you wouldn’t like it as I do. Maybe you would resent it. Maybe you would click off. Maybe you would unsubscribe.

But then I back away and realize some of it really is excellent and who knows but that you might just love it as I do.

So here goes: something I heard a year ago, posted once, but just wanted to share again. Enjoy.

The Arkansas Gospel

Let me make this clear.

You don’t go to Heaven because God loves you, nor because you love Him.

You don’t go to Heaven because you amend your sinful ways or clean up your act.

Turning over a new leaf is rehabilitation, but it is not salvation.

Education is not the answer.

Reformation is not the answer.

Legislation is not the answer.

Jesus is the answer.

We go to Heaven because Jesus saves us through His work on the Cross.

Don’t be separated from God any longer.

Give your sinful life to Jesus at the Cross, bury it in baptism, and be born again of the Spirit of God.

That is how you enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

That reminded me of a story I heard once:
“He IS Out to Get You!”

A woman was driving alone, one night, on a long trip. Having just left a convenience store and taken the on ramp back to the Interstate, she felt not so lonely because some guy had held the door for her as he’d left the store. She noticed he also on-ramped when she did—a friendly face for the journey.

As she traveled, though, she thought she noticed his car following her too close. When she increased her speed a bit to make some distance, his car also increased its speed.

Tensing, and persuading herself it was coincidence, she began weaving through traffic, checking her rear view mirror.

That car followed her every move.

She upped her speed to 80, which she usually never did, and the car was still right behind her.

She could think of nothing to do but exit again, where there was civilization, and force that driver to change plans.

It was a long five miles to the exit.

Carefully, she scooted through traffic into the right lane at the last minute, without signaling, almost missed the exit, and looked up to realize that car loomed closer than ever.

There was no choice, now, but to tear into a gas station parking area, laying on the horn, screech to a stop, throw open the door, and, in desperation, flee into the building, sobbing.

Simultaneously, the driver of the other car also slammed on his brakes, and threw open his door with an angry grimace, running directly to her car, tore open the back door, and grabbed a ski-masked man from the floorboard, beating him until he collapsed.

And you don’t know it, but you’ve got trouble in your back seat.

And God is following you.

And He will never give up, so you might as well.

Home School, Inspiring, Photos, Pre-schoolers, Sayings, Wisdom

What a Rush!

Posted on March 14, 2014March 14, 2014 by Katharine

3/14/14 – Reposting this to honor the man.

This is not about speed.

It’s about that rush I get when I teach.

Sometimes I say my bones are aching and it helps if I teach. Ever feel that way?

I think it’s maybe being part of the Creation process. When I see the lightbulb coming on in someone else’s understanding, it moves me, thrills me to the bone.

I love teaching, helping understanding to exist where it never did before. It’s not exactly creating, but like a potter with clay, I can mold someone’s mind to fit around new material, new cognizance, or even completely new thoughts that no one has ever realized before.

Research also thrills me. Discovering small things about big events or important people makes me want to teach some more. For instance: Did you know that as a child, Albert Einstein absolutely loved Euclid’s geometry and called it “that holy little algebra book” or that at age 5, he wondered what frozen light would look like? Who ever thinks of THE genius as a small child with wonderment inside his soul? Or that some adult fed him books over most children’s heads, just for the joy of watching that light come on?

See, I just taught you something and opened your thinking more. What a rush!

Sometimes I tutor. One young girl is learning so much about writing, she has developed an enjoyment for the writing process. Seeing the difference in her output this year gives me such excitement. I think of the joy she will bring to her family as her skills increase and she cements them through practice.

I tutor a couple of legal immigrants in their new language, English, and we have fun exchanging culture, too. I explained our local phrase regarding appetites for all foods, as we say, “eat everything that is not nailed to the table.” They laughed enormously at that and now use the saying (in their own language, which is fine with me.) Then they confessed their tiredness of pizza and their longing for cultural dishes they cannot yet prepare. I taught them to say, “I am tired of pizza, but it is better than nothing,” and as they remember their old country and having nothing to eat, they sober and regain resolve to find a way to afford gas for their stove.

And though it is a small spark, I love seeing that light.

The most exciting teaching I do is from the Bible. So much light there. So many people don’t get it, cannot see it. Or don’t want to.

But when I see that light come on, what a rush!

New Kids on the Blog

WordPress Automattician? Homeschooler? Blogging co-op?

How-to?

Go tell Karen Alma THANKS!

Karen Alma

I’ve been toying with the idea of starting a blogging class for kids for a while. I homeschool my kids and for some reason it is so hard for me to get my kids blogging. I suppose it’s the old shoemakers kids scenario. Finally, I decided the best way to get them blogging would be to offer a class to my homeschool group. Committing to working with the children of my friends would mean my kids could ride along.

After talking about it and talking about it, we finally did it. Last week, I had six kiddos in my house, sitting around the dining room table: taxing my wifi, setting up blogs and publishing their first post and second and third in some cases). In case anyone is interested in replicating this experiment, here’s how it goes:

Tools

laptop or device per child
WordPress.com accounts for each child – we…

View original post 182 more words

A New-Found Friend

Ireland's Highest Peak — Ireland’s Highest Peak (Photo credit: mozzercork)

For weeks, a wonderful guy in Ireland has been helping this Grandma with WordPress questions/problems. He is instant and constant and cheery and seems to LOVE helping. Makes life so nice.

He never made me feel dumb and never asked for a thing except a chance to help a bit more, if needed.

I checked out his site (shared with a brother) called Happy Guide, which is all about helping folks be happy.

Anyone would be happy to claim two such sons.

I haven’t read the whole thing, but I have read one page: “How to Overcome ME/CFS” and I was shocked and amazed.

It was so Biblical, and therefore, useful for me, I can only be glad–happy–to find it.

Hope you check them out.

Soon.

And thanks, James!

Blessings of Habit, Categorized!, Wisdom

Do You Live with an Editor?

Posted on February 4, 2014July 19, 2023 by Katharine

I can find anyone’s mistake.

When folks misuse an adjective as an adverb, I mentally add, “-ly!” Yes, I mentally add the exclamation point; cannot let it go.

When someone picks up the wrong fork for his salad, I have to concentrate on my own salad or I forget to eat it.

When a word is misspelled in a published book, I mark it, if it’s my own copy.

When clothing colors are a bad match, when a car needs detailing, when a handprint (or, worse, a nose-and-forehead print) appears on my storm door, I notice it all. (And I say “for-red”, not “for-head”.)

If you find plates upside-down at the beginning of the service line in a self-serve restaurant, I’m the one who did that. Those plates needed rewashing.

My kids can tell you: I’m precise about particulars. They learned how to diagram sentences. They learned to distinguish between the “i”, the “:”, and the “!” in math. They learned the new names of the new countries in eastern Europe. They learned to spell before I let them learn to type, which came before I let them learn to use our computer.

They learned to say “-ly!”, mentally, whenever appropriate.

I cannot imagine how stressful that must have been. I worry about it, although I always attempted to make learning fun and exciting.

In fact, one of my kids recently told me of his thankfulness at being forced to learn spelling and typing first.

He’d looked around.

Someone else was hunt-pecking at a keyboard, someone employed to sit there and hunt-peck. He told me of his astonishment and the difficulty he had in concentrating on his own business. Hmm.

I am training myself to let some of it go, though. Wish I’d trained my kids to do that, too. It’s heavy, all this noticing and editing of other peoples’ goofs. Sometimes I just smile and keep going.

After all, I can spot anyone’s mistake.

Anyone’s but mine.

Related articles

Related articles

The Arkansas Gospel