OTTG 1ML: Day 4

Our Trip To Greece

1 Month Later

Day #4 6/9/23 Amy here. Our fourth day in Greece was more of a mess than the previous few days. Before the trip had started we had heard how you could run around the Olympic stadium, in the mornings before they started charging admission to see it. We had planned to do this, just to say we had done it. So when we got into the cab, and were chatting away with the cab driver, we were wondering why the ride was taking so long. It turns out there are two Olympic stadiums in Athens; the one we wanted to go to which was built in 330 B.C. and then excavated in the 19th century for the first two modern Olympics and the stadium that hosted the 2004 Olympics. We realized that she was taking us to the stadium that hosted the 2004 Olympics, rather than the one from the 1800’s. When we finally arrived there, and it was crawling with people we didn’t end up running. 

 Here is what we missed ...

   

 It was disappointing. But then we decided to walk around Athens for a few more hours until we had to catch the ferry to Sifnos. We got some tea and then decided to find a local library. We LOVE libraries (it’s part of the reason we saw the ruins of Hadrian’s library), and have visited many many libraries in our 25 years of marriage. This library, however, was open only by appointment, and the doors were locked. We were denied entry. While we were searching for the library as we walked around we came upon what looked like a protest. It turned out to be a college graduation. 

 After we could not get into the library we walked around some more and went to a Greek street food place we had learned about on the internet before the trip called O Kostas .

 It was amazing, and well worth all the misadventures up to that point. 

 We then walked back to our hotel, to retrieve our luggage before getting a cab to the ferry. I get seasick and wore these wristbands which apply pressure and they worked like a charm! No ill effects from the three hour ferry ride. We arrived in Sifnos and I immediately fell in love with Greece!

Our Trip to Greece: Day by Day 1 month later

 Exactly 1 month ago my wife and I embarked on a trip to Greece to celebrate 25 years of being married.  Starting today we’d like to turn back the clock and give you day by day details of our trip a month after they occurred.

Day 1

6/1/23 Elgin Illinois

We wake up in our house and the big day we’ve been planning for for years is finally upon us.. We do a final check to make sure we have not forgotten anything and pack our luggage into our car. If you don’t count walking, escalators, elevators or the people movers at the airport we are going on 4  different modes of transportation today. First, we drive to our local bus station and I drop off Amy and our luggage. I then drive home, do a final final check for forgotten items and walk the 1/2 mile back to the bus station.  We board the bus and our trip begins in earnest with us shepherding our 1 each checked bag, carry on item and personal item on the way to the penultimate stop of the O’Hare bound Chicago Blue line train. 

We know this stop very well as when you take it towards Chicago it connects to the red line train, which has taken us to tens of White Sox games and several Cubs games over the years we have called the Northwest suburbs our home. I have since been there this past 4th of July to attend a White Sox game with my daughter. When we got to the station we were thinking back to the day before Mother’s Day a few weeks prior when while on our way to watch the White Sox take on former home town favorite Jose Aubrey and the Houston Astros we saw a man having a drug overdose and had to call 911 to get him assistance. No such drama ensued this time as we hopped on the Ohare bound train and got out at the airport.  

We had built a little what my Dad always called margin into our schedule so we had plenty of time for me to exchange a small amount of dollars to euros before turning in our luggage. This was by far the worst exchange rate I received.  It is always a good idea to have some of the local currency at all times of your stay as you can’t always use credit or debit cards.  It’s just best to only use airport exchanges when absolutely necessary. It’s ta captive audience thing, the equivalent of buying snacks at a movie theatre.  I work at a movie theatre, so I know of what I speak.

At this time of the morning foot traffic at “The World’s Busiest Airport” was fairly light, so we eased right through baggage to Security.  We had talked about paying the extra hundred dollars for a third piece of checked baggage but the previous night had discovered that that bag was light enough and small enough to be considered  as carry on baggage. So we ended checking only 2 bags. What we forgot to assess was whether the items in that bag were compliment to airline regulations.  The shampoo bottles were biggger than allowed so I had to go back to the front and check that bag as well. Something always seems to go askew when you travel, and since we had been planning to pay to transport that piece until the day before the trip it seemed like the small hiccup it was.

I just looked at the time, I have to go the aforementioned movie theatre and inflict 8 dollar popcorn on people. I’m going to have Amy take you to Toronto and beyond, but make sure she mentions the maple leaf cookies.

This is Amy… we landed in Toronto and bought maple leaf cookies because Dave loves them. We hung out for a couple of hours and then boarded the next airplane and flew to Athens. The flight was 9.5 hours and while being a bit squished, we were thrilled to be full-filling a years long dream of visiting Greece. We saved up for 6 years and now it was coming true! 

W is for When

 A to Z Challenge

A Month At The Movies

This year I am copying from a myriad of other A to Z  challengers by reprinting the same synopsis about my theme with every letter.  You can skip over this part if you want to.  

I love movies and have decided to share with you a movie each day that I have enjoyed to one degree or another.  With each entry, I'll give a brief synopsis of the film, share a positive and negative review from Rotten Tomatoes ( a website, I didn't use much at all until preparing for the challenge), discuss its resiliency (the theme of the A to Z challenge this year), and other tidbits like whether the film may appear in my top 100 film list, which I have been revamping this year. I think that's enough in the way of introduction, considering you'll be reading it (hopefully) 3  more times this month.

Film: When A Man Loves A Woman (1994) 

Director: Luis Mandoki

Positive Tomato: Here is a wise and ambitious film about the way alcoholism affects the fabric of a marriage. Roger Ebert - Chicago Sun-Times

Negative Tomato: Does her husband notice her addiction? How could he not? Does he care? Who knows! Jonah Koslofsky - The Spool

I've decided to alter the format of today's entry a little bit. I'll still tell you a brief synopsis of the 1994 Rom Dram but after that I'm going to type a transcript of a conversation I had with my wife earlier this week about the film.  The movie stars Meg Ryan and And Garcia as a working couple with 2 children.  Ryan has a drinking problem and the film examines the couples relationship as she seeks treatment and he copes with the aftermath of her addiction.  

Dave: Amy we've talked a lot about qualities that  movies my top 100 list would have and one of them is re-watchability.  You definitely think When A Man Loves A woman is rewatchable.  What makes it that way?

Amy: It's a really good movie.  It's a good depiction of both an alcoholic and an enabler and how those two things together make a storm.

Dave: How does that make it rewatchable?

Amy: Watching the pain get resolved.  The dual depiction gives it a unique perspective.

Dave: What do you think of Andy Garcia's character?

Amy: We see him as a tough guy at the beginning of the movie who has to help Mag Ryan and realize that he is as powerless as she is in rectifying the situation.

Also, watching the way he loves his children and communicates with them is very beautiful

Dave: Do you believe that this is a Meg Ryan vehicle, and that the title is a little misleading?

Amy:No, I think they beautifully create a movie where  there are two equal stars.  I think Andy's story is just as gripping as Meg's.

Dave: Were you a little surprised that I didn't have When Harry Met Sally as my W?

Amy: Yes! You like that movie a lot more than this one.  But then again, I don't fully  understand your selection process.

The conversation veered to different paths from there.

Resiliency:  If I would have asked Amy about the theme of resiiency in this film, I think she would have said something like that this movie examines the resiliency of this marriage through the lens of addiction and recovery. I didn't aske her, so we may never know.

Top 100: This movie would definitely be in Amy's top 100.  I like the film and enjoy watchingit with her, but at this point I would not consider it for my top 100. 

A to Z Connections: Like Ordinary People, this movie depicts a family in crisis.  Vertigo and Gattaca along with When a Man Loves a Woman were all primarily filmed in california.

Next Time: Xciting time travel movie.  

.

Wait! School isn't over yet!

We are spending 1-1 1/2 hours each morning working on reading and writing. We are using some super old-fashioned, but highly effective and engaging SRA cards for reading (with a little writing) and then using story starters from www.thewritesource.com to elicit some creative writing. Some handwriting for those who need it is also snuck in, along with typing for the oldest. Our 12 year old is expected to write 5 paragraphs, our 6 year old writes 3-5 sentences, and our struggling 10 year old is writing 5 sentences. It's going swimmingly, oh, and we are spending the rest of our days, well, swimming :). We're doing a few fall/winter/spring neglected jobs around the house as well, and teaching some kitchen skills too. Oh, and let's not forget the continual read-alouds at lunch. I think we, as home educators, need to admit the truth: school is never over! And we like it that way!

Christmas Eve Musings

It is 9:oo p.m.  Christmas Eve.  Amy and I are relaxing on the couch as we wait for our children to fall asleep.  We never taught our kids to believe in Santa, but we do still like to put candy in their stockings from us once they are asleep.  Even though they know the big guy isn't coming, it is still hard to get them asleep the night before Christmas. 

While I wait for them to sleep, I thought I would take some time to say a few things here. Christmas is chaotic fun, chock full of family visits, car rides, old movies, good food, good conversations, awkward pauses, rousing card games, frequent questions like "So how long are you in town?" etc.  But we do enjoy the chaos.  At times, we do forget to be really thankful for the true meaning of Christmas.  Not what many people say, "baby Jesus being born." No, no. We are thankful that Jesus gave up his God-hood, and became a man, to suffer as we do (and much more) to make a way for billions of sinners He loved so much.  And that way He made for us is so simple and beautiful, almost too much so for so many, so that they miss their role in salvation...acceptance.  Oh no, I have to DO something to go to heaven. Or God doesn't exist for me, no God I know would allow people to suffer, etc.  God has made a way for us to know about him through his word and creation, and to know him through his Son.  Thank you Jesus!

Of Ipods and Vaccum Belts

They are so different. One you can listen to, one you can replace. How are they the same? They both can be bought at Best Buy. But that's where the similarities end, so BACK OFF already!



Now on to the REAL message of this post:


Puppies are special, puppies are cute. Or some song like that from Esther. You know, the Veggie Tales video? Where the damsels are attempting to impress the king with their talent? Oh come on, you don't REMEMBER that? How's this: one of these things is not like the other! Three of these things are kind-of the same. Can you guess which thing does not belong here, before I finish my song? That's it, I'm leaving. You don't remember a Sesame Street song??? Children, hello here?

Never. Mind.

Love,

Dave

p.s. my wife wrote this a year ago today. I didn't put it the blog then, but since I have had a change of heart.

The Good Fruit, and the Ugly

First fruits of the season, yum!

Someone found our roof yummy too!

For more Six Word Saturday, head on over to Show My Face dot com.

Project Week (With updates)

After a medium-sized summer (don't want to declare it long or short--I do have two full weeks left before I (Amy) go back to work) of swimming, laying about reading, frequenting the zoo, hanging about libraries, etc., it's time to get some long-neglected projects done around the house, before fall hits in full swing with soccer, ballet, school, work, Awana, etc. So here's our list (accompanied by some "before" and "after" photos, to keep us honest): *Clean & organize playroom (also doubles as an entryway/bunny house) Before: After: (That's not a feather, it's sunlight!) *Clean out craft cabinet Before: After: *Organize school shelves *Clean out bathroom cabinet *Make front yard look better *Make back yard look better *Put up a clothesline? (thinking of trying this click the word this) *Clean out kitchen cabinets *Clean out under sink Before: After: With everyone's help from young to old, we should be able to accomplish all of these tasks, along with some afternoon swimming, and some packing/prepping for a weekend family camp-out, and a Dad and Spider Droid trip to Joplin, MO, to help out tornado victims. Let the projects begin! (or, continue...working hard!)

Tuesday night update: Dave, ever the meme participant, wanted me to remind you that having a project week, involving the whole family, and taking before and after pictures of the projects work for us. To see what works for others go to WFMW at We Are That Family.

Wednesday Night Update: Dave and Spider Droid worked on projects outside of Grandpa's house with cousins, uncles, nephews, brothers, fathers and grandpas (depending who you ask) today. Nothing new on our project list got removed. We girls relaxed and Bunny returned the favor and kicked me from Baltic to Boardwalk in Monopoly.

A commenter told me about Tackle it Tuesday @ Five Minutes for Mom and Dave linked me up there. If you are visiting from there, welcome. you can head back by clicking here.

Six Word Saturday-Monopoly is fun, when you win!

Slowly buying up property, might win!



Acquiring a couple of hotels, yay!


A few more hotels won't hurt.


Getting closer to world domination, yes!

Mortgaged to the hilt, she's out!

For more Six Word Saturdays click here

HSD Rewind: Newspaper Fried Chicken

I have a little feature on my blog that announces the most frequently viewed post on the blog. I titled it the post of the week. I was surprised over the weekend to find that the most viewed post was a recipe post Amy wrote for Works for me Wednesday 2 years ago. So let's review the taste sensation that's sweeping the nation and get in the (not so) way back machine to

Original Air Date: June 30th, 2009


I have asked my lovely wife to contribute one of my favorite recipes for this special themed edition of WFMW. This dish works for us as a dish to pass at summer cookouts but also makes a great family dinner. Here is the lovely and Talented Mrs. Dad . . .



This is called "newspaper chicken" because we got the recipe from the newspaper. Creative huh.


**NOTE: This is a two-day affair, but well worth it!


Here's how I make it, but there are any number of variations you can make to make it your own. I take 5 lbs of boneless chicken breasts and cut them into small strips or chunks (I get the bag-o-frozen chicken from Aldi.) I cover them in water in a large tupperware bowl and add 1 cup of salt. Yes, one entire cup of salt. I put the cover on it, and shake it a few times, and refrigerate it overnight. Sometimes during the night, if I happen to get up, I shake it a few more times. In the morning, I dump out the salt water and rinse the chicken well. Really well. This brining isn't for flavoring. Then, using the same bowl while the chicken is on a plate or drainer, I put 2 cups of milk (I use skim) in the bowl and 2 tablespoons of vinegar and stir that up (handy dandy buttermilk.) Then return the chicken to the bowl and make sure the chicken is covered. If not, add more milk. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. I like to double dip my chicken because it comes out so crunchy, really good. I put 2 cups of flour, along with 1 tsp of the following: salt, garlic powder, chili powder, and 1/2 tsp of pepper and dry mustard. Mix it really well in a large ziplock bag (I've tried doing it in a bowl, but doesn't work as well.) So you take chicken out of buttermilk and save the buttermilk! Put chicken on a plate. Then with a pair of tongs or "grabbers" put a few pieces of chicken in the flour mixture to coat, then grab with grabbers, drop in buttermilk, and then back into flour mixture.

Place coated chicken on a tray (I use my pampered chef "stackable cooling rack" laid on top of a cookie sheet.) Once all chicken is double coated, let the tray sit in the fridge for another hour. This ensures the coating will stick to the chicken. **Sometimes I do have to make another bag of flour mixture. This double coating is messy, but it really makes for nice, crunchy chicken. After an hour, get a frying pan ready with enough oil to be 1/2 way up the sides of the chicken. I fry it over medium high heat. Once the oil is hot, place a few pieces of chicken in the oil. If you're doing it right, as the hot oil is cooking the food, the salt water is coming out of the chicken, therefore, making it a nongreasy affair. Love it. So you fry it on one side for about 4 minutes (try to leave it alone here, don't check it a bunch of times), and the other side for about 4 minutes more. This, of course, varies according to size. Using bone-in chicken will take longer. Now, this is important: do not try to keep the chicken warm to try to serve in an hour or so. Either serve immediately, or allow to cool and either serve cold, or microwave to warm it up. If you try to keep it warm in the oven, it gets gooey, and nobody likes gooey chicken! This chicken also freezes quite well. I usually have enough for a meal right away, leftovers in the fridge, and then some in the freezer for a later meal.

Ingredients at a Glance:

5 lbs boneless chicken breasts
1 cup salt, water to cover chicken
2 cups milk plus 2 TBLS vinegar (or buttermilk if you have it)
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt, garlic powder, chili powder
1/2 tsp pepper and dried mustard
oil for frying

Thanks Amy. She also does a great impression of Jimmy Stewart saying chicken. She is certainly a woman of many talents.

Meanwhile back in 2011. Amy is still a woman of many talents. Today she got a job that she neither applied for nor interviewed for. She merely told some people she wanted it, and bam, it was hers. It's actually her same job just in a different school, one much closer to our house.

So she will be able to get home quicker and make this fantastic chicken. We still love it and hope you will too. If I repost this in ten years time I might have to remind people what a newspaper was.

As with last time I shared this recipe, I am sharing this @ We Are That Family for Works for me Wednesday because (wait for it) Newspaper Chicken works for me. click here to see what works for others who may not have chicken on their mind and be so easily defined.

COH Now and Then

Corn and Oil is hosting this weeks Carnival of Homeschooling. Along with the many other fine articles at this weeks carnival is Amy's excellent post, What About Finishing "School" Work.

Next weeks carnival will be right here at HSD. I am currently accepting submissions for next weeks fun. I will be commenting on my favorite 10 movies of all time between the home school stuff. So if and when you make a submission try to answer one of these questions in the space where you can make comments:

1) What is one of your favorite movies of all time?

2) What is one of your least favorite movies of all time?

3) What's a good movies you have watched in the last 3 months?

Click here to see all the details on how to submit a post. Or if you know the drill just click here to submit your post.

So have a good week, enjoy the current carnival and we will roll film here next week.

What about finishing "school" work?

One thing I like about homeschooling is that my husband Dave, and I are in charge of what we teach our children. Sure, we are making sure the reading, writing, math, history, science, etc., are getting learned. However, there are more important things to be learned. Namely, turning their hearts toward Christ. Serving others. So when we "take time off" to help grandpa, I don't see that as "time off of school." I see that as integral to educating our children. We really want them to become accomplished, capable people when they grow up. But more importantly, we want them to follow Jesus, lead others to Jesus, be examples of Jesus, etc. And that means right now, we need to teach them to love others, serve others, care for others, put others above themselves, etc. So when my dad asked me this week if I would consider sending the children to "real school," I almost started crying at the thought of it. Sure, they would cover the academics, at least some of them. There would have to be so much reteaching and unteaching, it wouldn't be worth my while. And I would feel that we were sending the kids to the wolves by sending them to "real school." Nobody else has quite the agenda we have in mind....

Postlee Sobranya

Amy is off school for the week which gives her the opportunity to post observations like this . . . When Dave was in Russia, back in 1992, he used to send me tapes of himself talking. He would also tape other people around him. He was working hard, learning the language, and he would often practice his Russian on me. I used to listen to the cassettes several times while driving in the car. So, there are still several Russian phrases that pop into my consciousness from time to time. Postlee sobranya is one of them. Not that it's spelled correctly, mind you. But it means, "after meeting." Dave was talking to his friends in church about going sledding with some of the youth, and the person said, "postlee sobranya." So, every once in a while, I'll just say, to whomever is listening, "postlee sobranya." It happens with other phrases as well, and in other languages. I took French in high school and college. Then, as a senior in college, I badly needed an EASY class, as I was QUITE burned out. I took Spanish. BIG mistake. HUGE. (Name the movie I'm quoting here.) Funny thing, Spanish and French are similar...I get them mixed up, a lot! But every once in a while, I remember how to say the "Hail Mary" in French, and the other day at work, I sat through an entire parent meeting in Spanish, and I knew what they were saying, for the most part. I should use this affinity for languages for good...but usually I just fling random foreign words around for anyone who's around. And the response I get, "huh?" doesn't seem to stop me. See you later, or, as I like to say, postlee sobranya.

Off to the races!

It seems like the beginning of January seems to be a rude awakening of activity that we somehow forgot about in all the holiday flurry.

First, we forgot to sign Spider Droid up for spring soccer, which we took care of in the nick of time!

While at the park district signing him up, we remembered to sign up Puppy for ballet...which started yesterday. Got that in just under the wire. Whew!

On top of that, the Lego Robotics state finals is next Friday and Saturday.

And then the homeschool co-op starts up again. Not to mention Awana on Monday nights, in which the two older are working on Bible Quizzing as well. Then after that is over, I am sure that Spider Droid will want to be in the Awana games again. There's always something, you know. Homeschooling doesn't always involve being at home! Homeschool, it's not a place, it's a state of mind. In fact don't think of it as homeschooling, it's more like life.

Lego Robotics

Our family spent all day today in a Jr High gymnasium. Sounds like fun, huh? Actually it was. My son was in a regional competion for Lego Robotics today. There were several facets to the competition, but the best part was the awards ceremony. His team didn't win any of the first place awards in the four competition categories . However, they were 1 of 4 teams in the regional to advance to the state finals!! Go Spider Droid Go!!

Four Year Old Follies (Ending Soon)

Puppy came up to me with her nose wrinkled up, and said, "Mom, are my letters wiggly or funky?" After stifling laughter, I said her letters are perfect. Look at that G! Secretly thinking, where did this girl come from? She's about to turn five, so who knows what the next year will bring.

Nothing like a cheese sandwich

You know how they say,"Nothing like a cheese sandwich?" Well, they don't mean it. Let's be completely honest (we're among friends, right?) they hardly even mean it when they say, "Time is money" or "Best friends with goldfish." But what I've got in my craw this evening is the first phrase. Nothing like a cheese sandwich. Robert Redford would say it like this, "There's nothing like a cheese sandwich." But I prefer my own way, and keep the "there's" off. Know what I mean? Now most other things I agree wholeheartedly with Mr. Redford. But not this.

Sunday at the Rollers

And now, a word from our sponsor....

What does Sunday at the Roller's house look like? Maybe much like your house. Wake up, make breakfast, run around getting everyone cleaned and dressed for church. Go to church. Enjoy worship, preaching, and announcements about our pastor search. During second service, divide up into our various classes where we're serving. Don't forget the donuts. Get home by 1:30. Have a nice relaxing lunch, then everyone scatters for their Sunday down time. Some are reading, some are playing Lego's, some are watching tv, some are sorting coins, some are devising ways to get the others involved in her dramatic/comedic play that they will write later. Sundays are generally spent doing all of these things. Then, someone remembers that the fish are almost out of water (they tend to die if we use tap water), and we're almost out of tp and dishwasher soap. So, a quick run to Walmart to pick up the essentials. Obviously, a LOT of other families had the SAME idea! Not before the dog and sheep dramatic/comedic plays. Some of us had better roles than others: Dad and older sister were crawling around as either dogs or sheep, younger sister (author and director) also "got to" crawl around as dog and sheep, brother was the clown to make the animals happy (did his job with gusto) and mom had the cushy role of looking for the lost dogs and lost sheep. Evening spent watching Hulu: Extreme Home Makeover, and Supernanny. More coin sorting by some. Oops! Forgot to have dinner. Dad to the rescue, picks up our favorites! Thanks dad! One more Sunday gone by...tune in next week for another episode of As the Rollers Roll...

Keith Time: The International impact of Keith Part II

Giving Amy Access. Should I be Scared?

From time to time Amy serves as a guest blogger for me. I have decided to make it official by making her a contributor to this blog. There really should not be any cause for alarm in allowing your wife full access to your blog. But when your wife likes to write crazy things in your blog when she is "supposed" to be editing it, that's a different story. Remember last week when I wrote about Bob Newhart loving me? I had to write that in self defense.

In the previous post she had removed my little blurb about what was coming next and wrote "Next Time: Bob Newhart Loves Dave." Sure, I could have simply changed back to my blurb. But we would probably still be playing tug-of -blog. So I showed her! I just wrote a silly post to match her silly title.

So why oh why would I give her more license for craziness instead of suspending her license? To meld Mickey Mouse Club and Sally Field : Y? Because I like her, I really really like her. I am sure you will like her to.

Next Time: Ipod casts aspersions.

A Bunny Surprise

Today's post is another look at the top 25 labels of Home School Dad (Through post 300)

Label # 15 Our Bunny Girl

Our Bunny Girl is a label I use when blogging specifically about our oldest daughter. Today is a special day as we are celebrating her birthday early; she turns 11 on Thursday and the party is today. The thing is, she doesn't know about it yet.
Homeschool Dad's Wife here: Dave and Emma are at the White Sox game enjoying "Frank Thomas" Day, where they are retiring his number. We are expecting Emma to walk in around 6:15 pm, amid family and friends. She historically hasn't done well with parties at our house. She anticipates, plans, gets all excited, then has a total melt-down when the time comes. We were hoping that the element of surprise will help her just enjoy all the attention for a short while, then she can go and read in her room if she wants to. She is a beautiful, smart, sweet young lady, and we are so thankful to the Lord for sending her to us at just the right time, almost 11 years ago.