The weekly “little of this, little of that” feature at Like Mother, Like Daughter!
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chosen by a random number generator, are —Erin: “The Book of Isaiah Christmas photo card caught my attention. I like anything that is a reminder of why we really celebrate Christmas.”
chosen by a random number generator, are —Erin: “The Book of Isaiah Christmas photo card caught my attention. I like anything that is a reminder of why we really celebrate Christmas.”
and
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This past week we finally tucked the yard into bed, raking and mowing until the mower ran out of gas. That means that the mower can be put in the back of the garage and the plow can be moved out in front of the spot where the wood needs to go. Sukie plays living-room tetris — we play garage tetris! (Do you think that cars go in garages? LOL)
While I've been trying to convince myself that I'm done crunching my deadline — just getting my mind to believe that it's okay to go about my erstwhile routine — Deirdre's been hitting a wall of her own.
That's because for this project that I've been working on, she's doing the illustrating of the text, so she's up at bat now. She sent me this photo of her desk, so that you will know she's not shirking {bits & pieces}. She just needs to keep her head down, take care of that little darling Finnabee, and get her drawings in order.Wait until you see them!
So on to this week's links:
- First, the truly outrageous, and the ultimate in un-PC: 90 gaffes from the 90-year old Prince Philip, a self-proclaimed sufferer of “foot-in-mouth disease.” Ghastly. But not to be missed.
- Things are getting wacky in our world: You should click on the embedded link to read the original story referenced in this hilarious send-up of the New York Times' Vows column (and the comments are pretty funny too), or you might think it's a pure applesauce. It's not. Parodists everywhere are crying silently in their beer.
- Want to read about a real marriage — one that combines a fairy tale (but no starlings) with real suffering and sacrifice? The story of the Archduke and the Princess never fails to move me, and it's told very well in The “Fairy-Tale” Prince and the Five Surprises.
- Somehow, knowing that life can be brought forth under difficult or even impossible circumstances gives me great hope. Both stories are miraculous. The one of how the young Auschwitz survivor and her husband were reunited brought me to tears.
- Another inspiring couple need prayers and help right now: Perhaps you'd be moved by this story of Thomas Peters, friend of those of the LMLD clan who know him, and his new wife Natalie. They could use a prayer if you have a spare one!
- Good people want to be good to others and also tell the truth, using the right words. Words matter. Truth matters. Today the front line of truth is precisely in marriage and the meaning of the body, words, and love. Should language be a matter of political concession? The dilemma is that if we give into a misrepresentation out of a sense of tenderheartedness, real people will suffer. “Sadly, the loudest voices concerning sexual identity come from the culture around [the youngest generation]; if they find themselves attracted to members of the same sex, they are trapped into thinking that they ‘must be gay.'” Daniel Mattson starts with Narnia and ends with the nuptial meaning of the body in this essay that clarifies words about sexuality and reality — two things that must not be separated.
- The feminist narrative needs a little shaking up as well. Think that right-mindedness started in the 70s? Think again. All you have to do is study history: you may be surprised to find that the Middle Ages weren't all they're made out to be in the Department of Keeping Women in the Dark and Slavery.
- The antidote, as I say, is to study (and teach our children to study). The Civil War can shed some light on how the death of writing in our culture has an impact on our politics. Don't be thrown into an anxiety attack over it, though. Rather, take heart from the simple matters that young soldier was accustomed to jotting down in his (ultimately heart-breaking) diary and help your children do likewise (without a sad ending, God willing).
- What does a child need to know? Some thoughts from Charlotte Mason — and again, note how much of what she suggests arises from simple yet intelligent conversation with the child, as well as simple observation of the world around him. Don't panic — just relax and consider the sort of list this is: very different from the ones you read today. It's more about order and wonder than about drilling or piling on of curriculum.
- Lastly, a nicely honest post about an impressive cardboard-box project anyone could undertake to keep their little ones occupied while the bigs study. Although I know a certain teenager, back in the day, *cough* Deirdre *cough*, who mightily enjoyed something similar. The boxes were bigger (mostly fridge and dryer boxes scavenged I know not where from), set up under the basement stairs in a friend's house by her mom.
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kimberlee says
Illustrations by Deidre in your book! Swoon! (and having a daughter who just finished illustrating a book, I know that 'up against a wall' feeling) Love the picture of her desk. Can't wait to see what comes out of all those Pitts and Pigmas.
As for putting the yard to bed, I mostly just leave it until spring (when I then regret it). My birder daughter likes to leave all the 'cover' for the wildlife. How's that for an excuse?!
Thank you for all the links, as always. Happy Saturday!
DeirdreLMLD says
Haha! If the box setup I'm thinking of is the one you're talking about, I wasn't a teenager! That was back our suburbs days, so I was at most 11. Although it was awesome, so I'm pretty sure I would have continued into my teens if I could have…
_Leila says
True — you were 11. Which is one-teen 🙂
Seriously, it was such a great play area.
DeirdreLMLD says
Oh, and by my “desk,” Auntie Leila really means my dining room table! haha
Waiting on that someday studio…
GramiePamie says
RE: Prince Phillip, I guffawed out-loud at #20. But several of them were the sort of thing that many think, but few – perhaps only one – have the nerve to say.
Lisa G. says
Or the insensitivity. Rudeness? I doubt that it's nerve. I wouldn't want to be married to him – I wonder how she likes it.
_Leila says
Well, like the comments about Tom Jones — I'm sure many would like to have the nerve to say that! But some of the other stuff, oy. No wonder she goes around acting like she's never *not* been in control. It's like — “Keep looking at me… don't look at him… really… don't…”
Mary says
This project sounds wonderful I cannot wait to “see” it. My dining room table ends up being my “desK” most of the time as well. We make due and create loveliness…at least I try. Blessings to you both with this project. So excited for you!! Happy Weekend!!
Sunny-Gem says
The Fairytale Prince had me shedding a tear or two!
CarlynB says
I read that Vows column and laughed until I cried. My favorite quote from the original story was this from the young Mr. Sibson, “I had no sense of Atlanta. I would watch CNN and see these women with big hair, and think wistfully, 'That's where Anne is, and she seems nothing like those big-haired women.' ” How frightening, those big-haired women of Atlanta!
Melissa Diskin says
Ha — here in Atlanta, we call it “Texas hair”. 😀
Martha says
His sister is a milliner in beijing? I can't even…and these people want to have children!?! What will their names be, one wonders, when they seem to come from two families beset with hyphens and titles (even the dog is sir??).
scmom4 says
Loved the gaffes! Some of the most “British” things I have ever heard. Thanks for the laughs.