I love my car November 16, 2009

Last summer, my husband bought me a car. Yes, we discussed it before hand but, recognizing his superior knowledge and intuition regarding automobiles, he had the final say. And I am, oh, so glad he did.

Last Saturday dawned as the four days before it had–gray, cloudy, foggy, dreary, depressing, oppressively depressing, gray, blah, foggy. Get the point? Jael and I had a lunch date with some friends so continuing to hide out in the house was not an option. We got into my Volvo V70, with the five-cylinder turbo-charged diesel and five-speed manual transmission, and headed for the base.

2000 Volvo V70

While I detest weather such as we had that day, my car loves it. Never does the Volvo sound happier, shift smoother, and purr more contentedly than when the weather is crushing my soul. This is a good thing, as I absolutely LOVE driving the Volvo when it sounds like that and it has an enormous effect on my mood.

From the deep growl of low RPM’s to the throaty purr of high RPM’s (assisted by the turbo), the car wants to fly down the road. Only on foggy, dreary days do I have a hard time keeping it under 100 (kilometers per mile, about 60) on the way to base. On foggy, dreary days, I find myself flying along at 110-120 kph. As a ticket would NOT help my mood, I am constantly having to break the rhythm of the car’s song.

But even with the speed limit cramping my style, I arrived at the post office/meeting place with a happy heart. My morning funk had been completely dissipated by the joy of driving such an incredible machine. Better than Prozac.

“Thundering Hooves” where are you? October 21, 2009

I had a book when I was a young girl, twelve or so. It was called “Thundering Hooves.” It was about a girl who loved horses. She lived on a farm with her mom, dad and brother. She had had a young horse who threw her dad, who broke his arm, lost his job and subsequently, she was forbidden from having another horse. Her neighbor gets a new horse, an Arabian, and our heroine falls in love with it. She gentles the horse, who had been traumatized by harsh treatment. Her neighbor then sells the horse to the rich snotty girl, who is completely inept when it comes to handling the spirited horse. The heroine goes through a number of schemes trying to raise the money in order to buy the horse but things always seem to fall apart. But when the spirited horse freaks out during a parade, the rich girl is more than willing to trade our heroine her spirited but uncontrollable horse for the heroine’s more docile horse. Everyone’s happy.

Except me. Because this book doesn’t exist. Yeah, it really doesn’t.

*********

Until today when I realized that the book was titled “Pounding Hooves.” It was written by Dorothy Grundbock Johnston. Right there on Amazon. I’m seriously retarded. I’ve been looking for this book (mostly just because I couldn’t ever find it) and the whole time I was looking for the book by the wrong name. No wonder I couldn’t find it, eh?

Such is life.

Girl Scouts October 15, 2009

My daughter joined the Girls Scouts this last week. Most would not consider this that noteworthy. After all, 3.4 million girls and women are members of this “world’s preeminent organization dedicated solely to girls.” Over 50 million have passed through the ranks of the Girl Scouts. They were one of the leading organization on desegregation. They supported the war effort after the bombing of Pearl Harbor by growing victory gardens, operating bicycle courier services, and more.  Prominent women such as, Barbara and Laura Bush, Tipper Gore, and actress Debbie Reynolds have been involved in the Girl Scouts. Their website claims: “In partnership with committed adult volunteers, girls develop qualities that will serve them all their lives, like leadership, strong values, social conscience, and conviction about their own potential and self-worth.”

What’s not to like, right?

Until I sat down last week and did some research, the only thing I knew about Girl Scouts was what I had “learned” growing up in a Conservative Christian home. And that was that the Girl Scouts were evil. They were partnered with Planned Parenthood, encouraged teen sex, promoted abortion and lesbianism and were all commies. Of course none of this is true nor was it taught to me outright. I can’t honestly remember having any conversations with anyone about the Girl Scouts and yet, I had these impressions.

It is always strange to question things you’ve grown up with, beliefs so deeply ingrained you don’t even realize they are there until you are blindsided by it. And I was completely blind-sided. When Jayme invited Jael to Girl Scouts my first reaction was to smile and nod and get away from this psycho as quickly as possible. Obviously she was evil and would work to corrupt my daughter if she had access.

And then I realized, wait a minute. What do I really even know about the Girl Scouts? … They sell cookies.

That was it.

They sell cookies.

That’s what I knew about the Girl Scouts, all nicely summarized in one sentence. They. Sell. Cookies. More research was needed and that’s what we did. We started with “What’s the big controversy regarding the Girl Scouts?”

Shirley Dobson says: “Jim [Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family] is also determined to protect children from indoctrination by “politically correct” ideas that are promoted by…homosexual activists who want to manipulate young minds …within the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.”

James Dobson himself said, in a 2002 letter to his followers, “[indoctrination] is what is behind the massive effort to install homosexuals and their influence into the Boy Scouts organization. The Girls Scouts have already been invaded, and now, according to one report, a third of Girl Scout leaders are lesbians.” This quote is followed by a little number 20 which, if you click on it, takes you to the reference which is one Kathryn Jean Lopez’s article, “The Cookie Crumbles” from National Review, 23 October 2000, p. 30.

Alrighty. Let’s find this report. Some time on UMUC’s library database and I’ve got it. Culture Watch is the column (which I think is an opinion column…of course, I think that National Review is largely an opinion publication anyway), Kathryn Lopez is the author and here’s what she had to say:

The Girl Scouts’ leaders hope to make their youthful charges the shock troops of an ongoing feminist revolution. It’s been a long slide…they dropped “loyalty” from their oath…in favor of “I will do my best to be honest and fair.”…[The Girl Scouts] executive director, Marsha Johnson Evans, has impeccable feminist credential: She had a 29-year career in the Navy, during which she earned the title of rear admiral, only the second woman ever to do so…she was the mother of the 12-12-5 affirmative-action policy, a mandate to make the Navy look more like America: 12 percent African-American, 12 percent Hispanic, and 5 percent Asain/Pacific.

Wow…I didn’t realize that being successful at your job gave you “impeccable feminist credential[s].” And shouldn’t we be proud of Evans for being only the second woman to become Rear Admiral? Isn’t that something to be proud of? I guess not.

Lopez goes on to say that the Girl Scouts advocate for sexual equality in sports (GOOD GOD! Girls playing sports! The horror!) and that the Girl Scout constitution has a “ringing endorsement of affirmative action in ‘recruitment, hiring, training, and promoting.’ Girl Scout moms are anti-gun…” Wow…I had no idea I was anti-gun. Huh. Who would have thought their mind control devices were so strong that with the signing of Jael’s registration form I became anti-gun.

In this same negative tone Lopez continues writing. She writes, regarding a Senior Scout resource book:

Some activities “you can do as a Girl Scout to address contemporary issues” include “organiz[ing] an even to make people aware of gender bias” or “help[ing] organize an Earth Day celebration.”…Girl Scouts can now earn the “Ms. Fix-It” badge for learning how to fix a leak, rewire an electrical appliance, or re-caulk a window, and the “Car Care” badge for checking fluids, filling tires to the proper pressure, and performing safety checks…Victimization is central to the Girl Scout worldview…

I’m confused. So, the Girl Scouts are bad for encouraging girls to learn how to take care of themselves and then they are bad for talking about victimization? Which way do you want it, Lopez? Oh…you just want to pretend that victimization just doesn’t happen. After all, we are in a post-feminism era with no further need of equality, right? Must be nice to be you.

Now Lopez brings out the big guns. Lesbianism. The Girl Scouts have them. She quotes from a book titled On My Honor: Lesbians Reflect on Their Scouting Experience. It is a collection of memoirs from lesbians who were in the Girl Scouts. Lopez writes, “Girl Scout staffers writing in the book claim that roughly one in three of the Girl Scouts’ paid professional staff is lesbian.”

And that’s it. That’s Dr. James Dobson’s “report.” Wow. A collection of memoirs, in which someone NOT speaking for the organization, claims that 1/3 of the paid professional staff is lesbian is a “report.” Reeeeeeaaaaaally? Also, “paid professional staff” and “Girl Scout leaders” are two VERY different things. When someone says “Girl Scout leaders” you think “troop leaders,” which are ALL volunteer, spend a lot of time with your kids and are NOT paid professionals. Holy. Freaking. Cow.

I’ve got other things to work on (like my first assignment in Women’s Studies…hmmm. Maybe Girl Scout people are raging feminists…)

Enchiladas August 3, 2009

8-12 large flour tortillas

4 large boneless, skinless chicken breast

4 C water

1 t minced garlic

1 t onion powder

1 ¼ C shredded cheese (Monterey Jack/Cheddar mix) – divided

1 t onion powder

1 t garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

1 C tomato sauce

1 T chopped green chilies (optional)

2 T flour

2 T butter

2 ½ C chicken broth

¼ C herb/garlic cream cheese

¼ C shredded Parmesan cheese

1.    Put water, spices (1 t minced garlic, 1 t onion powder), and chicken breast into large deep skillet. Poach approximately 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

2.    Place cooked chicken in a deep bowl and allow to cool slightly, then shred using 2 forks.

3.    Add 1 C shredded cheese, 1 t onion powder, 1 t garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste, and 1 C tomato sauce to the shredded chicken. Set aside while you start on the sauce.

4.    In a large saucepan on medium high heat, combine flour and butter. Cook the flour for about 1 minute.

5.    Whisk in chicken broth and bring to a boil; lower heat to medium, add cream cheese and Parmesan; whisk until combined. Simmer 10 minutes, until sauce is slightly thickened.

6.    Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

7.    Meanwhile, place 1/3 C of chicken mixture on one side of tortilla. Wrap halfway around, fold in ends and finish wrapping. Place seam side down in 9×13-inch baking dish.

8.    Pour thickened sauce over enchiladas, sprinkle the top with ¼ mixed shredded cheese and bake for 10 minutes or until bubbly.

9.    Serve with sour cream, guacamole, salsa or plain!

The Talented Mr. Diesel? April 11, 2009

Vin Diesel

The first movie I saw Vin Diesel in was “Pitch Black” and I hated it. My definition of a “good” movie was very, very narrow. “Pitch Black” was done on the cheap with unknown actors and actresses. It was set on a desert planet and so much of the filming was overexposed to give it that sun scorched feel. It was also a horror film and since they were on such a budget, the director felt that the unseen was scarier than the seen through bad special effects. So the glimpses of the monsters are quick and undefined. And I didn’t like horror movies at the time so I hated it.

Fast forward a number of years. I see “The Fast and the Furious.” I thought it was okay but didn’t really notice Vin Diesel too much. I mean, he was buff and that was noticable but other than that, I really didn’t think much of him. My husband HATED it which cast a negative view over the whole thing and it was not one I cared to see again.

Then Israel went to tech school and came back having seen “The Chronicles of Riddick.” He wanted to see it with me but only after we watched “Pitch Black” together. This time around I LOVED it. Maybe it was falling in love with a guy who shaved his head, maybe it was growing as a person and realizing that there are other cinematic methods than those used in movies such as “You’ve Got Mail.” Whatever the reason, I loved it this time around. Diesel did such an incredible job as the consummate bad ass Riddick, in both “Pitch Black” and in “The Chronicles of Riddick.” But I thought that’s all he was. He was eye candy whose acting abilities consisted of having a great voice and being bad ass.

Then, a couple of months ago, after watching “Pitch Black” again, I googled Vin Diesel to see what else he’s been in. I borrowed some from the library, rented some from i-Tunes and began to realize I’d horribly misjudged Mr. Diesel. Yes, he is eye candy. Yes, he has a deep, signature voice. Yes, he plays bad-ass really well. He can also play broken hearted husband (“A Man Apart”). He can also play loyal friend (“Knockaround Guys”). He can also play (though I’ve not seen this yet) a mobster representing himself in the longest trial in American history in the movie “Find Me Guilty.” Than I got a hold of “Strays.” That would be the feature film he wrote, funded, directed, and starred in. And did a great job, I might add. That was when I began to realize, there might be more to this man than a shiny skull and a set of pipes.

So I spent today watching his TV appearances. Leno, Conan O’Brien (whom I love), BBC’s Ross show and others. And he’s great. He regularly turns the attention to the directors he’s worked with, the host of the show, the audience, other actors, the band, whomever. He credits others for the part they’ve played in his success. He steers the conversation away from his personal life and attempts to respect the privacy of his loved ones. He’s funny, he’s personable, and if he’s not actually a nice guy, he’s a much better actor than we’ve all realized.

All of this to say that as much as you can respect someone you’ve never met and have only seen on camera, I respect Vin Diesel. There aren’t many famous people I respect. There’s not that many I’ve taken the time to research to be honest. I respect Dolly Parton. I respect the late Johnny Cash. The list is short but it just got one person longer.

For what it’s worth, Mr. Diesel, you have the respect of Becky Walker.

Playlist just screwed me over April 3, 2009

I logged into Playlist today and had a red message up that read, “Due to licensing restrictions, some tracks are currently unavailable for playing in your country.” I clicked on my favorite playlist, one I have spent hours getting just right. Just the right mix of angry, complicated rock and fun, peppy pop. Deep male voices and angelic female vocals. Dark, rageful and lighthearted fun. And of the 31 tracks, a whopping 8 are available to me.

WHAT THE HELL?

Is there a way to copy songs from playlist that I don’t know about? Exactly how does me listening to songs in Germany vs listening in the U.S. violate licensing? I am so incredibly pissed off. And you know what? This doesn’t make me want to go out and buy any of the music which is now unavailable to me. It makes me want to learn how to pirate music and then mail the artists some money directly since they are the talent I wish to support, not the fat, bloated, record company executive ass-clowns who make the really big money. I would like to send Dolly Parton a couple of bucks and a nice letter that say, “Hey, I illegally copied some of your songs. I want you to continue to make music and I want to support you in that so here’s some money. I’m sending it to you instead of buying your CD’s because I think the record companies are a bunch of life sucking, greedy bastards.

But alas, that’s not what I’m going to do. Instead, I’m going to rant and rave about it. I’m going to support open source projects like Ubuntu and Wikipedia and do my little part to screw people who do not believe in freedom of information. And I’m not going to buy any CD’s. Screw ‘em. Screw ‘em all.

Heads up! February 13, 2009

Just wanted to give you all a heads up regarding a new and fascinating blog. Actually, as many of you may know, I started blogging on Yahoo360 (the world’s worst blogging site) and blogged there for over a year. Not wanting to loose a year’s worth of blogs when Yahoo decides to can Yahoo360 (the world’s worst blogging site), I decided to repost them on WordPress. But I didn’t want to post them on here as they would be all out of order and it would weird things up as so much has changed since then. I mean, in one of my first blogs on Yahoo360 (the world’s worst blogging site) I write about how much I love the military life and how excited I am to be an involved ‘military wife’ etc, etc. Put that next to a blog in which I say, “I hate the Air Force. They are screwing Israel over. I never see him. Jael never sees him. His supervisors aren’t working 60 hours a week, why is he? He has to be at work but he’s not doing anything. The military did this stupid thing, that stupid thing. Blah blah blah.” It would just be confusing and weird.

So, the old blogs are at preladyrebecca.wordpress.com, and since I can’t make them archive as Winter of 2006 and on, I just dated each entry. The title of the first blog is November 6, 2006.

And I just want to add this little note. A lot of my views and opinions have changed in the last two years. The example above is only one example. If you read something and you feel it’s out of character for the person who’s writing LadyRebecca, that’s because LadyRebeccca is a constantly changing and growing human being. And if you are confused, please ask. That’s what the comment field is for. That and I love getting comments. It lets me know that people are reading my blogs, which makes me happy!

Duck Breast with Red Pepper Jam February 8, 2009

I made this recipe last night and it was AMAZING!

Although delicious tasting, duck breasts can be fatty unless the skin is browned thoroughly and rendered of most of its fat. Skillet roasting the breasts skin-side down makes that happen. Scoring the skin first facilitates the draining of fat while the meat cooks.

Jam:

• 1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon grated (or minced) fresh ginger
• 2 large red bell peppers, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Duck:

• 4 boneless duck breast halves
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried thyme, lightly crushed with mortar and pestle)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 t freshly ground black pepper

1.  Heat oil, 1/2 t garlic and ginger in medium nonstick skillet (I used a regular stainless steel skillet) over medium-low heat  1 to 2 minutes or until fragrant. Add bell peppers; cook 10 minutes (I had to cook longer) or until peppers are soft, stirring occasionally. Stir in vinegar, brown sugar and salt. Reduce heat to low; cook 15-20 minutes or until liquid is almost evaporated but mixture isn’t dry. Cool. (Jam can be made up to 2 days ahead. Cover and regfrigerate. Serve at room temperature.)

2.  Score skin of duck breasts every 1/2 inch (do not cut into meat); rotate and score again, creating a crisscross pattern. In a small bowl, stir together all remaining duck ingredients. Rub mixture ove both sides of duck, pushing mixture into cuts to season duck.

3.  Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Heat large non-stick skillet (again, I used a stainless steal skillet), oven-proof skillet over medium-low heat until hot. Add duck, skin-side down. Cook 6 to 8 minutes (I cooked longer in order to achieve brown and rendered) or until skin is browned and fat is rendered, removing fat as it accumulates. Turn duck; place skillet in oven. Bake 4 to 5 (again, had to cook longer. I cooked about 7 minutes I think), for medium-rare or until of desiered doneness. Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes.

4.  Carve each breast across the grain into 4 or 5 slices; serve with the jam.

I didn’t carve the breasts before serving but didn’t really feel like that detracted anything from their yumminess. The Red Pepper Jam was okay but I didn’t really feel like the duck needed any relish. The duck was so amazing and wonderful. I had not noticed the price of the duck when I bought it. It was only as I was taking it out of the package that I noticed they were a little over $8 for two breasts. I told Israel as we sat down to eat that he’d better like it as it was a four dollar piece of meat (we don’t buy steak that costs that much!). He was skeptical until he took a bite. His eyes rolled back in his head and he moaned.

Around a mouthful of pan roasted duck he said, “Oh, Becky. This is the most amazing thing I’ve ever tasted!” And that with a pile of homemade cheddar garlic mashed potatoes sitting on his plate (and if you know Israel and his love of mashed potatoes you know this is a big deal!).  And it really was that amazing. I wish I had the skills or training to describe the amazing taste. It was just complex enough to be interesting without so many competing flavors as to be contradicting or anything. Everything complimented everything perfectly. It was just so incredibly good.

Oh, and Jael calls mashed potatoes “smashed potatoes.” I don’t know why but it makes perfect sense so we let it go. Maybe she’ll start a cultural revolution and in 50 years everyone will call them smashed potatoes!

Oh, and this recipe is from the feb/march 2006 issue of Cooking Pleasures. Which apparently I had a copy of at one point but now all I have is a few pages from it. I don’t know. Anyway, that’s where I got the recipe.

Rabbit Hot Pot November 27, 2008

I made this last night and it was AMAZING!! I’ve never cooked rabbit before but Israel and I had talked about it a couple of nights ago. While walking through the commissary in a “grocery store induced haze” I noticed a package of meat that was packaged with a pink foam tray instead of white or yellow, as the others were. I picked it up and it said
“rabbit pieces” and I stuck it in the cart. Perusing online for a rabbit recipe, I stumbled onto this gem. Of course, when I tried to find the site again so I could give credit where credit is due, I can’t find it for love or money. So you will just have to trust me that there is a British website out there with an amazing rabbit recipe. Whoever and where ever you are, “Thank you.”

Seriously, the best roast I’ve ever had. Ever. And Israel agreed. It was amazing. Try it. Here it is:

Rabbit Hot Pot

4 Rabbit portions

2 T flour

salt

black pepper–freshly ground

2 large onions, peeled and sliced

2 large carrots, peeled and sliced

1 1/4 to 1 3/4 C chicken stock or water

2 t prepared mustard

1 T fresh chopped parsley or 1 t dried parsley

1 # potatoes, peeled and finely sliced

2 T butter, melted

Gravy

1/4 C butter

1/4 C flour or 2 T cornstarch

water or chicken stock to make 2 C

1.  Preheat oven to 325F. Season the flour with salt and peper and coat the rabbit portions. Place in casserole dish.

2.  Add the onions, carrots, stock, mustard, and parsley. Cover with sliced potatoes, then brush with the melted butter.

3.  Cover and cook for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, then remove the lid, increase the heat to 425F, and cook for a further 15-25 minutes until potatoes are brown.

4.  Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small saucepan. Whisk in the flour or cornstarch.

5.  When the meat and vegetables are done cooking, remove from casserole dish and keep warm. Pour broth from pan into a large measuring cup (2 Cup Pyrex or similar). Scrape the crusties from the pan as well. Add water or chicken broth to make 2 cups. Pour all at once into the flour/butter mixture. Heat until thickened and bubbly, stirring regularly. Cook and stir 1 minute more. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Halloween Night November 1, 2008

Guten Abend meine Fruenden,

(Good Evening my friends)

We are doing well here in the Walker household. Tonight is Halloween and we are back from Trick or Treating with Jael. She dressed as Tinkerbell but unfortunately she wanted an authentic Tinkerbell costume, which meant a very tiny dress. I took a turtle neck and cut the sleeves off. I sewed the arm holes shut and cut the hem into a zig-zag. Jael wore it like a tube top with the turtle neck being the bodice of the dress. I made a pair of wings out of two coat hangers shaped into wings, covered them with a pair of white pantyhose and then sewed a couple of pieces of elastic to them and Viola! Tinkerbell. Of course, being that it looked an awful lot like Tinkerbell’s actual clothes, Jael was freezing and so wore her winter coat over the costume. I told her that next year she needed to dress up as something warmer, like a dog sled musher.

We went to Trier last weekend. We’d planned on taking the train but I must admit, the score is “Train system: 2; Walker’s: 0.” We’ve not figured it out yet. I think we are going to ask our landlords for advice. So we ended up driving. Which would have been fine except that we didn’t have a good map of Trier and the route I’d planned had been based off us starting at the train station. The first hour of our time in the city was a little frustrating but once we were parked and had figured out where we were, we were good to go.

The first placed we stopped was the Imperial Baths (Kaiserthermen).

The first cool thing about the baths was that I had to speak German in order to get our tickets. I said, “Zwei Erwachsene, ein Kinder,” and the man behind the counter told me the total and I almost understood him. Small victories.

We were able to go into the service tunnels underground and walk through the cave like labyrinths. As we walked along the outer wall, I noticed the holes in the walls for archers to defend the city from invaders. It was strange to walk along a wall, enjoying the beautiful sunshine and know that men had died on the ground we walked on, defending the city we were enjoying. It was strange to walk through a building that was so big. Not just physically but in importance. The Imperial Baths were a big deal. Trier was a big deal. The same people who built the “Colosseum” built the building we were walking through. The same society that gave us the constitutional republic, built this building. We were, literally, walking through history and it made me feel small.

We walked to the Porta Nigra, and I, again, got to practice my German. Again, success! The two things I remember the most were a loud and enthusiastic tour guide in period costume and Jael’s hunger. Sie hast hunger (She is hungry, or literally, she has hunger). I’ve not learned past tenses.

We went through town to find something to eat and I think we may have walked through the biggest crowd we’d ever seen! It was a little nerve wracking. I worried about losing Jael but luckily, she was perfectly happy to hold tight to a hand. There were street musicians playing with their cases open at their feet, playing for the few odd coins passerbyers might throw in.

We stopped at a park on the way back to the car and Jael played for a couple of minutes. She attempted to play with two sisters but they just looked at her like she was insane and continued to play amongst themselves. They even got a little mean, going out of their way to exclude her but she just kept playing. She’s a resilient kid.

Then we headed home. A successful trip. We were very tired by the time we got home. I think the crowds tired us out as much as the walking; at least for Israel and I.

Oh, and I passed my driver’s license test last week. It’s a hundred question test and you can miss up to 15 and still pass. I missed 7. I missed two sign questions and they were stupid mistakes. I don’t know what the other five were so WATCH OUT!!  ha ha.  Anyway, it’s been very good to have wheels again.

Our furniture should be here somewhere around the 17th of November. We are very ready to have some furniture. You might think it is hard to keep your house clean…try it with no furniture. No bookcases for books. No desk for paper, pens and tape. No file cabinets for paperwork. No dresser for clothes. No toy box for toys. Our house constantly looks like a tornado tore through here or a “miscellaneous stuff” bomb went off.

Jael went to Kindergarten today. I left at 8:30 to clean a house and at 8:45, Maria, our landlady who works at the kindergarten, stopped by to ask if she could take Jael with her to work. I had called last week about enrolling Jael and was told that they didn’t have any openings and that they had to offer any openings to German students first. Anyway, Israel said that was fine so when I got home, Jael was gone. Israel told me the deal and to my surprise, tears began to fill my eyes. Israel’s eyes welled up and we spent a couple of minutes holding each other as we realized how grown up Jael is getting. Israel asked what I wanted to do and all I could think was, “I want my baby back!” But we waited until 2 and picked her up. She was not happy to see us (very typical. She’d always rather stay and play than go home…makes me feel great!). She’d had a great time and brought home a little ghost she’d made.

We came home and carved our Jack-O-Lanterns. Jael drew the face for one and Israel did the other. They both came out great. We set them out and lit the candles. I was really pleased. I wish I had a camera and I would send pictures, but alas, we don’t so I can’t.

I can’t think of anything else. I have got to write more often so I don’t end up with such long letters. But I probably won’t. Anyway, that’s what’s going on here.

Becky