New Crafting Space

And by "new", of course, I mean that I've lived here and had the room put together for 5 months but I'm just now getting around to posting photos.

 

[Car. Driveway.]

My fabulous husband insists that I have a crafting room*.  A family of three should normally be able to get along just fine in a two-bedroom, but not us!  We picked this house because it has a nice double living room (all the way).  The converted garage is off the main living room.  The high ceilings and big window make it pretty much perfect for holding all my crafting stuff without it looking like a cave.  And since it's right next to the living room, Lucy doesn't seem to mind as much when I work while she's playing or watching TV. 

We did, however, have to get a little creative with the toddler-proofing...

[Toy Shelf + Baby Gate + Filing Cabinet]

[The curtains are to keep our warm gas heater air out of the rafters at night.]

Before we moved, I got rid of my sewing table, one small bookshelf, and a set of plastic drawers.  And when we got here, we put the Britney shelf in the storage/mud room -- that room needed it more than I did.  To compensate for some lost storage space, I made what is possibly the tallest stack of under-the-bed Rubbermaid containers in the world, or at least in Humboldt County.

All full of different types of fabric. I think my corduroy collection is taking up three of those...

I can't really complain about the layout -- I have enough space, and I can see all my supplies pretty well.  My only problem is lighting (the room has no built-in lighting), which I could fix if I weren't such a cheapskate.  I think I need one of these.

 

[Squeee! Yes, those are old, giant, pull-down classroom maps standing up in the corner! Updates when I finally make the project I have in mind for them. (Thanks, Dad!)]

Sometimes I have visions of rigging up a pulley system to hoist my lightbox up into the high ceiling and out of my way. Probly not gonna happen.

[George!]

If you absolutely must have more photos of this and my other crafting spaces, I have a Flickr album of them here.  And if you want to see tons of other photos of other people's awesome craft rooms, you should search "craft room" on Flickr.




*His reasons are three fourfold:
1.) I have a calling to craft (and I enjoy it, and I'm good at it).
2.) I have a tendency to... acquire, which is curbed by having to keep it all in one room.
3.) He doesn't want to put up with my projects being scattered all over the house.
4.) (Added by him before press time, and I quote:) "I like the moneys!"
So as you can see, it's a mixture of encouragement, tough love, and selfishness.  I'll take it!

Jessie Lyman's Journals, Part 8

I previously introduced you to my great-great grandmother, Jessie Lyman Eckert.  You can read the first post here, and subsequent post are filed under

Jessie Lyman was born January 2, 1877.  She graduated from Westport High School (Westport, MO, now part of Kansas City) in 1897 at the head of her class.  From what I have read of her diaries so far, it appears she went on to teach school for a couple years in Columbia, MO.  She married Herman Eckert in June of 1899.  On July 26, 1900, she died giving birth to twins Conrad and Cornelia at the age of 22.  Conrad is my mother's mother's father.

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Mon, Nov. 8th [1897]

The rain continued almost all day. I had only twelve pupils. Jasper Jacobs broke his leg today. Celia is better, but I think she will never be well.

Tues, Nov. 9th

Aunt Florence and I called on Miss Lena Wilson this evening. We had a very pleasant time. Miss Lena's paintings are beautiful.

Wed, Nov. 10th

I sent for a new dress skirt today. It is very pretty. I will begin work on it as soon as possible.
I am learning a new song with the guitar.
I must get to bed and rest for tomorrow's work. The time goes fast, yet slowly also.

Thurs, Nov 11

I did not get a pattern, so was not able to begin on my dress today. I am teaching several of the older girls a song for Xmas.

Friday, Nov. 12

I spent about half an hour training the children today. Three of the little boys are doing finely.
Mr. Scott and Imogene came to bring me a pattern today, and spent the evening. He is so funny. It does me good to have him come.

Sat, Nov. 13

I began work on my dress today, and got along very well. I could only spend half the day on it, as I wanted to call on Lillie Phillips in the afternoon. I had a pleasant call, and found Mrs. Phillips very nice. We stopped to see how Celia Jacobs was as we came home. She is worse. Jasper is doing as well as could be expected.
John Wilson called this evening. He is very sociable.

Sunday, Nov. 14

It threatened rain today so I couldn't go to church this morning. I wanted to see Forest, so Clarence took me this evening. I spent most of the day in writing. I have all my letters answered now.

Mon. (Oct.) Nov. 15

This has been a rainy day. Francis took me to school in the road cart. Rollie scared at a hog and broke the shaft.
I walked home this evening.

Tues, Nov. 16

Nothing of importance happened today. I am working on my new dress skirt.

Wed, Nov 17

Still at my sewing. I think it will be very pretty.

Thurs, Nov 18

All my days seem alike -- rise at 6 o'clock, start for school at 7:30, ring the bell at 8:30, and spend the rest of the day in trying to instil into the verdant minds of the Strawn School, the principles of "Readin' 'Ritin' and 'Rithmetic."

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Isn't that the way?  I hate it when I get in ruts and feel like that.

There is a Strawn Road in Columbia, Mo.

Cookie Dinner!

A couple months ago, Lucy kept talking about eating cookies for dinner.  I suspect it had something to do with watching Sesame Street every day.  But it got me thinking -- wouldn't that be fun? To have cookies for dinner?  So I asked my Facebook friends what kind of well-rounded foods could be made to look like cookies, and I got some great responses.  And I filed them away (in my brain).

Well, this week I pulled them out.  I knew Lucy and I would need some fun while Norman is away at a conference.  So, I present to you, Cookie Dinner!

[Lucy took this one of me. She's getting pretty good!]

[Actually saying "Cheeeeese!"]

First, in the afternoon, we made a project of making these healthy chocolate chip cookies.  They turned out really good!  The amazing thing about these cookies is that they don't take any sugar.  The bananas act as sugar and (I suspect) as egg, as well.  (They're also gluten free if you use GF oats.)

[Gives her a hobby...]

We ran into a little trouble when I decided to use frozen bananas.  Everything was going fine!  I remembered to take them out of the freezer to thaw while we ran errands, and frozen bananas that have been thawed are practically already mashed, so that was nice.  But the recipe calls for slightly warmed coconut oil, so that it's a liquid.  Wellll.... coconut oil solidifies at 76 degrees F, so when it hit those semi-frozen bananas, it just chunked back up.  I kind of mashed up some of the oil pieces, and microwaved it a little, but in the end I had to add a little extra olive oil to get it wet enough to stick together.  But the cookies turned out great!  They kind of remind me of those little bite-sized cookies from Paradise Bakery, except that they kind of taste like banana.

So in addition to actual cookies, we also had...

Roasted potato slices with ketchup frosting

 

and sour cream frosting and bacon sprinkles

And slices of havarti cheese, cut out with cookie cutters, topped with pear slices.

It was all pretty tasty!  I highly recommend the potatoes with sour cream frosting and bacon sprinkles.  I just sliced up a couple potatoes and roasted them in the oven with olive oil and a little salt and garlic powder.  Yum!

Lucy seems to have had fun.  I mean, she ate some of everything!  And it was a nice creative outlet for me.  So I'd say Cookie Dinner gets a B+.  (Points off for my lack of presentation. It's just who I am.)

Jessie Lyman's Journals, Part 7

I previously introduced you to my great-great grandmother, Jessie Lyman Eckert.  You can read the first post here, and subsequent post are filed under

Jessie Lyman was born January 2, 1877.  She graduated from Westport High School (Westport, MO, now part of Kansas City) in 1897 at the head of her class.  From what I have read of her diaries so far, it appears she went on to teach school for a couple years in Columbia, MO.  She married Herman Eckert in June of 1899.  On July 26, 1900, she died giving birth to twins Conrad and Cornelia at the age of 22.  Conrad is my mother's mother's father.

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Mon. Oct Nov. 1 [1897]


This has been a gloomy, windy day. Aunt Florence took Forest to school. I rode over behind Walter on Mollie.


Tues, Nov 2d


Aunt Florence and I went to town after school. I wanted to have the dressmaker lengthen my dress, but she was too busy, so I bought the materials to do it myself. I got two widths of braid, and some canvas.
I saw Forest and and he went to the drug store with me. He is just as nice as he can be. When he finishes college, he will be a man.


Wed, Nov 3d


I forgot to say I went to the writing school last night. We had a great time. It was a beautiful evening. Francis says I acted like I was about twelve years old. Well, I don't often so far forget myself and my station in life.
I'd like to know why people call me "the little school marm".
This evening I called on Miss Electra Withers. It was another beautiful moonlight evening. After we left Mr. Hultz's we drove down to Vawter school house about four miles. We got there just as Clarence was giving his speech in the debate. We surprised him till he almost forgot his speech.
Francis and I had quite a confidential talk on the way back.


Thurs, Nov. 4th


I cut out the facing for my dress this evening.


Friday, Nov. 5th


I sewed the facing on my dress.
Last night I got a lovely letter from Ella, and one from Herman. Ella has replaced her confidence in me. Herman is such a dear considerate boy. Maybe he will come to see me Christmas. I do hope so. I am building my hopes so that I will be badly disappointed if he doesn't come. It will be so nice to walk, and skate with him again.


Sat. Nov. 6th


I finished my dress today. It looks very pretty. Somehow, I have been thinking of Herman all day. I wrote to him this evening. I have almost had the blues today -- thinking of the happy days that are past, and how little they were appreciated. How little I realized the worth of those gentle loving words and the tender stroke on my hair. I was like a spoiled child -- I received everything as my due, and gave little in return. Well, Herman loves me just as dearly still, and I can make up for the past by the future. I wrote to him this evening.


Sunday, Nov. 7


It rained again today so I couldn't go to church.
I wrote two letters -- to Ella and Emma Donaldson.
Francis and I wanted to go to Midway, but it rained and we could not go.


-----------------------------------------


Oh my, how sad!  (In case you didn't know, I have not read ahead and am only reading as I transcribe.)  Bless her heart.  Her story gets happier, but then, as we know, ends in tragedy.

[When this post was first published, I was having trouble reading the word "Vawter".  In trying to decipher the word "Strawn" in the next post, I figured it out.  There is now a Vawter School Road in Columbia, Mo.]

Resolutions, Part 2

I just wanted to share here a follow-up to last year's post about New Year's resolutions.  Last year I said that, although I'm not much of one for New Year's resolutions, I would be trying for the third time to read through the Bible in one year.

Well, I did it!  I'm super proud of myself.  How many of us know the guilt of going however many years as a Christian without having read the whole Bible?  I think I started having that guilt when I was about 12.  (Although to be fair, I was attending an Evangelical Christian school at that time...)  I'm glad to have that behind me, and I look forward to many re-readings in the future.  Although not in 2012.  I need a breather.  I think instead I'll try to get through the Apocrypha and a book about how the Protestant canon came to be.

[I looked a little like this sometimes...]

I guess I wanted to mention two things here.  One is the manner in which I finally accomplished my goal.  Since my daily Bible reading was coming to my Google Reader via an RSS feed, I decided that my rule would be that I couldn't read any posts in my Reader before I read the Bible reading for the day.  This gave me some leeway (I could go several days without doing my reading if I needed/wanted to), but also some urgency to get the readings done eventually (I didn't want to get too far behind on my favorite blogs!).  It was the perfect mixture and the perfect motivator.  I think the furthest behind I ever got was 5 days and 300+ blog posts, but I eventually caught back up.  So, I'm not saying that method will necessarily work for everyone -- it's definitely one suited to my particular personality and interests.  But I am saying that you should keep trying to reach your goals using different methods and incentives until you eventually get there.  Never stop starting!

I guess I also wanted to share a bit about what reading the whole Bible has meant to me and some of my thoughts about it.  I'm certainly not going to write a book review on the whole thing or anything!  And a year is a long time to hold anything in one's head, but I had some general impressions as I read:
1.) I was often surprised to read what it actually said, without all the commentary and preconceptions and opinions swirling around the text.  A lot of the time I found it to be a lot more straightforward than people act like it is.
2.) ....and other times I had to admit that I had no idea what was going on.  None.  Now, I'm a mystic (as defined by my husband on his blog -- check the link), so I'm more okay with that than some others would be.  But people have opinions and commentary and preconceptions about those parts too, which also surprises me, since the text is so seemingly inscrutable.
3.) ...so as a result, yeah, I think I'm more liberal than I was at the beginning of the year. That's a weird sentence to type.  But honestly, I think that's partly due to the fact that I've also been reading Rachel Held Evans's blog all year, and...
4.) ...the most specific observation I had about the Bible was... ::drumroll:: .... Yahweh was upset at Israel because they were cruel and unfair to orphans, widows, immigrants, and poor people.  That seems to be His most common indictment against them.  Second would probably be engaging in religious sex rituals.  But, yeah.  Dang.  That observation really got to me.  How often do I think of treating poor people with kindness and justice as even in the top 10 of things I should work on in my spiritual life?

So anyway, there ya go.  Bible read.  Goal achieved.  Marathon finished.  I win!

Jessie Lyman's Journals, Part 6

I previously introduced you to my great-great grandmother, Jessie Lyman Eckert.  You can read the first post here, and subsequent post are filed under

Jessie Lyman was born January 2, 1877.  She graduated from Westport High School (Westport, MO, now part of Kansas City) in 1897 at the head of her class.  From what I have read of her diaries so far, it appears she went on to teach school for a couple years in Columbia, MO.  She married Herman Eckert in June of 1899.  On July 26, 1900, she died giving birth to twins Conrad and Cornelia at the age of 22.  Conrad is my mother's mother's father.

-----------------------------------------------

Sun, Oct. 24 [1897]

We went to church and saw Forest. I took his overcoat and patching. Rob sold his horse yesterday for $47. Forest was pleased to get so much. It is more than he paid for her.
Mr. Emmett Scott came this afternoon. After chatting a while he suggested that we take a drive. We had a lovely time. It was dark when we got home. He came in and we ate a lunch, and he stayed till 9:15. I enjoyed his call very much. We are going driving again, and he is going to take me skating too. Oh I see some fun ahead.
While we were out, John Wilson and his sister came. I was sorry to have missed their call, as I have been expecting them for a good while.  John is a good skater too.
I do hope I will hear from Herman tomorrow.

Mon, Oct. 25th

Aunt Mary was taken sick this morning, and Logan came for Aunt Florence. We got along the best we could for breakfast. I left all the work and when I got home there was plenty to do. I went to work to get supper, and clean up. I made baking powder biscuits, with great fear and trembling. I was frying rabbit when Aunt Florence came bringing the children. She helped me finish. My biscuits were fine.

Tues, Oct. 26th

Nothing unusual happened today. Aunt Mary is much better, and I got a letter from Herman.

Wed, Oct. 27th

The children came over again today because Aunt Mary's head ached so badly. They will stay till Uncle Willie sends for them now.

Thurs, Oct. 28th

The boys went for hickory nuts yesterday, and today Clarence went to a sale. It is quite cool this evening.

Friday, Oct. 29th

This ends my second month of school teaching.  I have just finished making out my report.  I will get some money this month that I can buy some necessary articles with. I will get a hat tomorrow.
I got two letters today, one from Mamma and one from Nettie Munsell.

Sat, Oct. 30th

We went to town today and got my money. I bought a hat and pair of shoes.
I saw Jehu Wilson in town, and Emmett Scott too.  He talked quite a while as I was waiting in the buggy for Aunt Florence. I afterward saw him on the street, and he followed me into the book store and asked me to take a drive with him tomorrow.  I accepted with pleasure.

Sun, Oct 31st

It was raining this morning, so we just mailed some letters, for Forest, and came home, instead of going to church. Forest likes my hat very much.
Mr. Scott came in the afternoon and spent the evening. As it was raining, we didn't go driving. I had a very pleasant evening. We had a religious talk.
Mr. Scott seems to have a very high opinion of me. He surprised me this evening by some of his remarks on my character, nature, etc. when this was only the third time I have met him. I must be a little on my guard. He complimented my hat, and spoke highly of my taste in selecting it.

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Oooo, drama!  How exciting.

I've been trying to figure out why she abbreviates every day of the week except for Friday.  The best I can figure is that there has historically been some superstition surrounding Friday -- it was considered unlucky, apparently up into the 1900s, if this source is to be believed.  Anyone have any other thoughts on this?

Also, and I quote, "Jehu is not in the top 1000 male names for any year of birth in the last 131 years. Please enter another name." Ha ha! Not so surprising.

Jessie Lyman's Journals, Part 5

I previously introduced you to my great-great grandmother, Jessie Lyman Eckert.  You can read the first post here, and subsequent post are filed under

Jessie Lyman was born January 2, 1877.  She graduated from Westport High School (Westport, MO, now part of Kansas City) in 1897 at the head of her class.  From what I have read of her diaries so far, it appears she went on to teach school for a couple years in Columbia, MO.  She married Herman Eckert in June of 1899.  On July 26, 1900, she died giving birth to twins Conrad and Cornelia at the age of 22.  Conrad is my mother's mother's father.

-----------------------------------------------


Tues, Oct. 12. [1897]


This was a beautiful morning and I wore my blue shirt waist.  It was the first time since I came here, that I have worn it.
I got a letter from Mamma and one from Emma today.  Mamma writes such good letters.  Emma is a case -- a freak of nature.


Wed, Oct. 13.


Arah and I took a horse back ride this evening.  It was quite dusky when we got home.  We had a great time.  I never laughed so much.  Old George is awful hard on the trot.  I had lots of fun out of him anyway.  We want to go Friday afternoon.  I will have Old Annie next time.  She is a great pacer.  Lovely color -- white with chocolate spots.


Thurs, Oct. 14.


I got a jolly letter from Muriel today.  She is a case.  School went off very well today.
I must answer some letters.

Friday, Oct. 15.

I had a very pleasant day.  After recess, I read a story to the children, and recited for them.  After school I ran another race with Clara Spilman and beat her.
Arah and I took a ride.  I went on Old Annie, and what a time we did have!  Annie certainly is a beauty.  That "side pace" of hers is a curiosity.  I don't care, she "rides easy."
Arah laughed heartily at the figure I cut.  We got home just at dark.  I am very fond of riding.  I wish I had a horse of my own.

Sat, Oct. 16th.

I wanted to visit some of my pupils today, but Arah couldn't go with me and show me the way in the morning, and I expected Uncle Wallie in the afternoon, so I didn't go.  Aunt Florence and I took a walk over to the percimmon tree in the afternoon.  Uncle Wallie didn't come after all.

Sun, Oct. 17.

It was raing [sic -- raining] this morning, so we didn't go to church.  It began to clear off about noon, so Francis and I started over to Aunt Sallie Lenore's.  The horse got lame, however, so we just went to town and mailed some letters.  We spent the afternoon at Uncle Wallie's.
In the evening, Francis and I went to Midway to the Epworth League.

 Mon, Oct. 18.

This is Forest's 21st Birthday.  He is going to live in town after this as it is so far from here to school.
I have a sore throat.

Tues, Oct. 19.

My cold is very bad.  I dismissed school at 3, and came home to get doctored up.  I think I had a slight chill in school.

Wed, Oct. 20.

Aunt Florence gave me medicine all night last night.  My cold is pretty bad, but I can get along at school if I don't get any worse.  Clarence took me to school this morning.

Thurs, Oct. 21.

My cold is pretty well under control now, thanks to a stitch in time.
I haven't had a letter from Herman this week.

Friday, Oct. 22.

Aunt Florence had company all day, but I was so late as to miss them.  Mrs. Hultz [?] and her sister, however, called on me after school.
Francis and I went to call on Pattie Scott in the evening.  We found her in bed, but she finally made her appearance.

Sat, Oct. 23.

We had company again today.  I finished Forest's patching before they came, however.
After they were gone, Francis and I went to town.  I forgot to wear my Ivak, and to take Forest's patching.  We went to see Forest, and he put his over coat around me.  I didn't get a letter from Herman today either.  I wish he would write.

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I am 98% certain that the word there is indeed "Ivak", but I have no idea what that means.  I must therefore assume that it is a brand of coat that has somehow avoided internet detection.


Oh, and in case you were wondering, because I know I was: Arah.  Also, according to the Social Security baby name database (a fabulous resource), Arah was the 818th most popular baby girl name in 1882.  Their records only go back to 1880.  The variant spelling Ara was in the top 1000 baby girl names from 1880-1918 skipping only a few years.  I was assuming this Arah was male, but reading back over it, Jessie doesn't use ANY pronouns to refer to this person!  Looks like odds are it was a girl.

My New Diet Plan

Hahahahahahahaha... OK, not really.  I'm just trying to eat a little better and move a little more.  I had an epiphany the other day, which was that if I want to have another baby, I'd better lose this extra weight I've got hanging on before I get pregnant, or it'll be as good as stuck there for a while.  I got back down to pre-baby weight at some point during Lucy's life (it was at that point that I finally got rid of my old pants -- if they didn't fit then, they weren't going to!), but it has crept back up.  This wouldn't bother me so much, except that I know I don't move around nearly as much as I should, and I eat my own version of junk food all afternoon, every afternoon.

So. The moving around problem I hope to remedy by buying Lucy a semi-expensive balance bike for Christmas, so I'll have put so much money into it that I'll feel compelled to take her on walks with it all the time. (Using the normal human misunderstanding of sunk costs to my advantage.)

And on the food front:

Yes, that it as extra large pill box filled with chocolate chips.  You see, lately Norman and I have been going through a 10 oz bag of Ghirardelli 60% dark chocolate chips every week by ourselves.  And that's reining it in to only one bag a week.  This cannot be good for me (especially when I'm so sensitive to caffeine and sugar).  So I now have my daily allotment in the pill box.  It's working pretty well so far -- I haven't cheated, but I did get a little snippy one afternoon.  But in my defense, it turned out to be a really bad week to cut back on the chocolate, reproductive-system-ly speaking.


I will leave you with this, which is on my refrigerator above my list of approved snacks:

This is the real reason I'm so strict with food, so it helps to be reminded.

(Here is the article in which Drew Carey said that.  I highly recommend it -- he is wise and inspiring.)

Jessie Lyman's Journals, Part 4

I previously introduced you to my great-great grandmother, Jessie Lyman Eckert.  You can read the first post here, and subsequent post are filed under


Jessie Lyman was born January 2, 1877.  She graduated from Westport High School (Westport, MO, now part of Kansas City) in 1897 at the head of her class.  From what I have read of her diaries so far, it appears she went on to teach school for a couple years in Columbia, MO.  She married Herman Eckert in June of 1899.  On July 26, 1900, she died giving birth to twins Conrad and Cornelia at the age of 22.  Conrad is my mother's mother's father.

-----------------------------------------

Wed. Oct. 6th [1897]

Aunt Florence came by the school house on her way to Mrs. Jacobs' for butter.  I went with her and was very glad of the lift.

We stayed about an hour at Mrs. Jacobs' and had a very pleasant visit.  Carrie wanted me to stay all night, but I couldn't do so very conveniently.  They all invited me very cordially to come whenever I could.

I got quite chilly before we got home.  The boys had a good fire going and it felt good.

Thurs. Oct. 7th

Francis and I went to the percimmon [sic] tree again this afternoon.  There were none on the ground, but Francis climbed the tree and shook them down.  I picked up about a quart.  I wanted to send some to Mamma.

Friday, Oct. 8th

Aunt Florence went to Callaway Co. again today, so I will be house keeper for a few days.

I had to punish two [to]day -- Logan Russell and Henry Jonas.

Sat. Oct. 9th

We got up at almost six o'clock this morning.  I got breakfast as fast as I could, but we were so late that Forest didn't try to get to his 8:30 class.  Francis went to town and did not get home till late.  Clarence went to Huntsdale, so I was here all afternoon by myself.  I spent the time in darning Forest's socks.

After supper, Francis and I had an old time tussle.  He had disgusted me with his foolish talk, so, telling him that he was as soft and mushy as one of the percimmons we were eating, I threw one and hit him in the face with it.

Deeming it no longer safe for me to remain in that part of the house, I ran for the porch.  And none too soon, for as I went out the door a percimmon whipped past me.  Then came dashing of water in my face while I cuffed his ears, and smothering me with a comfort [?] while I belabored him with a shoe box.

We finally came to terms and went to bed peacably [sic].

Sunday Oct. 10th

We got up late again this morning.  I got breakfast and cleaned up the house.  By that time Uncle Wallie came over, and stayed an hour or two.  Soon after dinner Aunt Florence drove in.

I am feeling a little lonely today.  I miss going to church on Sunday.  It seems so strange not to expect Herman in the evening.  I wonder if Emmett Scott will come this evening.  I wish he would bring his buggy and take me to church.  It looks very much like rain, however, so I'm afraid he won't.  It could take my mind off of Herman.

Mon. Oct. 11, 97.

It was raining this morning, and Francis took me to school in the buggy.  The sun was shining before school was out however.  Aunt Florence was at Uncle Wallie's as I came by, and we walked home together. 

I got a nice letter from Herman.

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Ya know how when you learn about something for the first time, or something comes up that you never think of, then it just keeps coming up all around you suddenly?  Or is that just me?  In any case, I pretty much never think about persimmons, especially since I don't really know what they are, and I've never had one, so I don't know what they taste like.  But last week I typed up Jessie Lyman's first story about the persimmon tree.

Then, at church this morning, one of the ladies brought like 4 big boxes of persimmons to church to give away because her persimmon tree went crazy this year!  So I took 4 of them, with instructions from various church ladies to wait until they're quite mushy before either eating them or making baked goods out of them.  I can't wait!

A Great Deal that I Just Had to Share

I just found this great deal over at VitaCost.com!  You shop through this link, you get a $10 coupon for anything on the site!  Seriously -- no strings. 

I moseyed on over there and picked up 4 packages of these fancy rice crackers that we always buy for Lucy.  Well, they're cheaper at VitaCost than they are at the store here anyway, but I put 4 in my cart: $11.64 + $4.99 s/h - $10 coupon = $6.63.  That's $1.66/package.  They're like $3.50 here, and that's on sale!

Yep, it's as easy as that.  Check them out.  They sell supplements, teas, formula, organic snacks and convenience foods, etc, etc (including LARABARS which are the tastiest, healthiest snack bars ever).  If you click the link I have here, you get $10, and I get $10!  Heck of a deal!