Gina….

As you know, my name is Gina. I recently found a song by the same name. Besides the fact that it reminds me of my pathetically un-romantic life, I love it (Come on, you would too if your name was Gina)! Here’s a link to it:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=GeWMKDlQ5OM

(ignore the dedication stuff in the beginning of the movie, that has nothing to do with anything or anybody but the sappy boyfriend that put it there)

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Babysitting (part one?)

You are reading a post which was written in a rush… I expect to be picked up to babysit in 15 minutes! I better scoot!
Since babysitting is obviously on my mind (and I am at a loss of interesting topics), I will share some techniques I find successful.

Rule number one:
Never raise your voice at the child, ever. No matter how mad you are, it will not improve the circumstances. You will only succeed in making the child and yourself more aggravated.

Rule number two:
Give a controlling child choices (e.g. Would you like to clean the play room or wash the dishes?; Would you like to watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas or Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer?). This will often ease his/her attitude. It will also most likely make things easier for you, especially in situations like when some unfeeling employer did not already choose one of their hundreds of kid movies for her three argument-prone children.

Rule number three:
If you are going to set down your own rules, make them clear and simple. For example, instead of “I want you to clear up all the games, toys, and other junk from your floor before your parents get home, which will probably be in about 30 minutes.” Try “When I’m here, all the messes we make have to be cleaned up.” If the child doesn’t understand that, he/she is obviously trying to weasel out of the rule, or too young to follow it.

Rule number four:
When I reprimand/punish a child, I like to give at least one or two warnings first. If Susie is coloring on baby Jack’s high chair, give her a warning, “Susie, don’t color on anything but the paper Mommy set out for you.” If Susie tries coloring on something besides the paper, you would then explain to her that if she does it again, she will sit in time out. However, if Susie already knows it is wrong to color on baby Jack’s high chair (you’ll have to be discerning here), putting her in time out right away is perfectly acceptable.

Rule number five:
Babies… in my opinion, are the hardest to watch. They seem to cry for no reason at all. If one your are watching should happen to cry, there are some simple things to try before flinging the baby at the crib and starting to cry yourself. 1, check the diaper. 2, get its pacifier or blanket, or whatever comforts it. 3, feed it. 4, give it a nap. 5, burp it. If all of the above fails, the baby is probably sick or suffering from “Mommy-left-me-with-a-stranger-disorder.”

Rule number six:
Do NOT lie to the child. Do NOT tell the child Mommy and Daddy are coming home in a few minutes if they are not. Do NOT tell the child he won’t get presents for Christmas if he hits his sister. Do NOT tell the child her ears will go pointy if she doesn’t eat her veggies. I know it sounds cliche, but honesty is the best policy. A smart child (and sometimes the dimmer ones too) will figure out if you are fibbing to make them do something they don’t want to.

I can probably think of more stuff to write, but I really need to go get ready, so you’ll have to wait for another day if you are interested in reading more. =)

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My Bonnet

I’m working at the peanut stand at a one-day fair in town this weekend–all vendors have to be in victorian garb. Thus, the homemade bonnet in these pictures:

I found a pattern on the internet which was about 3 sizes to small, and dug up my friend’s little sister’s bonnet as a guide. Above is the finished project. The ribbon’s purpose (besides tieing a neat little bow beneath my chin) is to cover up the raw edges. I figured I didn’t need to turn them under or bind them, the bonnet is not going to be distressed much, seeing as I will only need it for one day a year… if the vendors even ask me to help out again!

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It grows like THAT?

And what would this be? Any guesses? At first glance it may look like a deformed apple with some chunk of wood taped to the bottom. Or, if you happen to be a resident of Brazil, you wouldn’t hesitate to say it’s a cashew fruit. Yup, that little “chunk of wood” is actually the nut you are so familiar with eating. (It’s not taped there, either.)

It grows on an evergreen tree that will reach about 35 feet tall. The fruit it produces is a red or yellow, 2-4 inch, pear-shaped “cashew apple” which starts out as a fleshy stalk, of which the nut grows out. The cashew apple, or “marañón“, in Central America, swells into the fruit you see in the picture. Although it is not safe to eat the cashew raw because of the shell’s poison-oak-like qualities, the fruit can be made into a juice, wine, or jam, with a acidic but “tasteful flavor.”

Because of their toxicity, harvesting of the nuts must be done carefully, and the shelling is an even more difficult job. As gigglemoose.com says, “Because the nuts are fragile and kidney-shaped, nobody has been able to develop a method of shelling them with machines. So the nuts are actually prepared by hand. To reduce the toxicity of the cashew oil and make the shells brittle, the nuts are first roasted. Even this step is dangerous, though, because the smoke given off is also a poisonous irritant. Finally, the shells are broken away by skilled workers using wooden hammers—who must be careful not to damage the nuts within!”

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SNOW!!!!

We had the first real snow of winter last week…. 6 inches! It all melted over the next few days, but it was nice while we had it.

These are some winter berries growing in our swamp. They are so nice! Perfect for arrangements.

This is the view out our back window. The picture is sort of foggy because it was snowing in that valley you see, but you can see how the snow coated everything in sight!

This is a pine tree in our woods, usually the branches are not so close to the ground, though. The snow is very heavy…

…As you can see from our blueberry patch. That chicken wire fence used to attached to the T-post!!! (Sorry about the crookedness, the ground is unlevel.)

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THANKSGIVING!!!! (Parts 1 and 2)

Part one:

A young man named Jon received a parrot as a gift. The parrot had a bad attitude and an even worse vocabulary. Every word out of the bird’s mouth was rude, obnoxious and laced with profanity. Jon tried and tried to change the bird’s attitude by consistently saying only polite words, playing soft music and anything else he could think of to “clean up” the bird’s vocabulary. Finally Jon was fed up and he yelled at the parrot. The parrot yelled back. Jon shook the parrot and the parrot got even angrier and more rude. In desperation, Jon grabbed the bird and put him in the freezer. For a few minutes the parrot squawked and kicked and screamed. Then, suddenly there was total quiet, not a peep was heard. Fearing that he had hurt the parrot, Jon quickly opened the door to the freezer.

The parrot calmly stepped out onto Jon’s outstretched arm and said “I believe I may have offended you with my rude language and actions. I am sincerely remorseful for any inappropriate transgressions. I fully intend to do everything I can do to correct my rude and unforgivable behavior.”

Jon was stunned at the change in the bird’s attitude. He was about to ask the parrot why he had made such a dramatic change in his behavior, but the bird continued…

“May I ask what the turkey did?”

I heard that one on the radio the other day and laughed SO hard!!! I know it’s old, in fact I’ve heard it before, but it was funnier this past time because it actually made sence to me… I know, blonde.

Part 2:

Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. 1 Chronicles 16:34

This is one of my favorite verses, not only because it reminds me to be thankful, but also because it’s a reminder of one of the things I’m most thankful for. There is no sin this fleshly heart can commit that God won’t look down on with mercy and forgive when I ask Him to!

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ATTENTION

New rule:

I will not publish any more comments if they are not signed… that means no commenting as anonymous. If I know you I will publish it, but obviously if you are anonymous than I don’t know you. Thank you!

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Grace

I recently read the story of “Les Miserable”—it tells the story of Jean Valjean, an ex-convict, yet when shown mercy by a priest, turns his life around to serve others. Still, however, he is a fugitive criminal and is hunted by the one man, inspector Javert, who can put all the pieces together and convict Valjean to a sentence of life in prison. Near the end of the story, Javert is caught on the wrong side of the barricade as a spy during a revolution, and the responsibility of disposing of him was laid on Valjean. However, rather than doing away with the one man who could convict him, he showed the godly mercy he had been shown those 15-20 years ago, and set Javier free.

Like wise, as Steven Estes and Joni Eareckson Tada put it in “When God Weeps” as they told the story of Christ’s death:

“…the soldier’s heart must continue pumping as he readies the prisoner’s wrist. Someone must sustain the soldier’s life minute by minute, for no human has this power on his own. Who supplies breath to his lungs? Who gives energy to his cells? Who holds his molecules together? Only by the Son do “all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:17) The victim wills that the soldier live on—he grants the warrior’s continued existence.”

My brother, after being forced by my parents into a summer job, once commented, “I’m not happy about going, I’ve just accepted my fate.” …Which is mostly how I’ve viewed Christ’s death—He accepted His fate because He had to, there was no other way. However, although he had the power to close up that soldier’s lungs, or stop providing energy to his cells, He didn’t. “The victim willed that the soldier lived on…” I have often been told that it was my sin that sent Jesus to the cross. It was our fleshly sins that forced him to die. But was it? Or was it more He caused Himself to die for our sins, because he loved us? This thought is a comforting one- and gives me a better appreciation for His death.

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Blue Fingers… blek!

I recently did some tie-dying for some Christmas presents. I can’t say much more (for fear the recipients would read it) except for the fact that gloves work fine when you are squeezing and stirring and rinsing out… but when it comes time to take the rubber bands off the material, you really need your fingers!

I should also mention that blue die is probably the hardest to get to blend into your skin… Narsty stuff. Thankfully my fingers are now fading to a nice shade of pink (unlike pic above, taken two days after the original disaster), and I can finally look forward to going somewhere in public and not receiving questions or weird glances.

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G.I.N.A.

One day I looked up the name Gina on Wikipedia, just for the fun of it. This is what I found:

For one thing, it stated “Gina is an Italian first name. It means punching people.” This disturbed me because I always heard and read in the name books that Gina meant Queen… Not to worry, though, I can rest in the fact that Wikipedia is no longer reliable because it can be edited by anybody, without references. For all I know that may have been written my some bitter ex-boyfriend.

My name stands for a few organizations I would never even consider becoming a part of:

• Global Initiative For Asthma (this one shouldn’t even count, it has nothing that starts with N!)
• Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (I’m having trouble picturing myself discriminating genetic information….)
• Graphical identification and authentication (Again, no N. You might, by a far stretch, be able to count the N in “and”…. but still!)

Wikipedia also listed 60 or so famous Ginas, most of which I would NOT be proud to have the profession of… Maybe someday I will become a famous person with a more wholesome career. Of course, that itself insures that I won’t be famous!

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