D is For Dye

White Sox Homerun hitters from A.J. to Zeke


The A to Z Challenge is up to letter 

D is for Dye

It's also Six Word Saturday, My Six:
Jermaine "Win or Dye Trying" Dye

In the off-season between 2004 and 2005 Kenny Williams then GM of the team added different players to get the team to the next level.  Jermaine Dye who had been to the 1996 World Series with the Atlanta Braves as a rookie was a player  that Williams had added to the 2005 Sox.   The Sox Marketing campaign that year was win or die trying. 

Dye was a big reason the Sox won in 2005 and was the MVP of the World Series.  Dye  played 4 more years with the Sox and finished with 164 Home Runs for them.  He hit more home runs in 5 seasons with the Sox than he did in His 9 previous seasons elsewhere.  Dye is 7th on the all-time White Sox homer list.


Dye averaged 30 home runs for every 162 major league games he played.   His best 2 Home run totals for the Sox came in 2006  when he went yard  44 times and in 2008 with 34 round trippers.  If you dye Easter eggs tonight think of good old # 23 Jermaine Dye as you do so.  For more A to Z blogging click here.  For more Six Word Saturday click here.

D is For Dave Ramsey, Debt and Discussion

Six Word Saturday today and I am doing nouns at the A to Z Challenge as well.  Since todays letter is D I am going 3D and giving a person, a place, and a thing.  All for the price of none.

My 6 words:

Person:  Dave.  Place: Debt.  Thing: Discussions.

The Person:  Dave Ramsey

Two years ago, I was the typical husband who was tired of his wife telling him about Dave Ramsey.  But financially things were not going well, and we were on the precipice of some big changes.  So, when his financial peace university program was offered at our new church I signed us up.  

The Place: Debt

I know debt might not seem like a place to you.  But I think it's a place because for a long time we were in it.  Dave Ramsey gave us some serious tools for dissolving debt.

One:  Budget your money.  Make sure that every dollar has a name.  

Two: Use the debt snowball.  Let's say you are 15,000 in debt and owe 5,000 for a car loan, 4000 on a student loan 3,000 on a bank card 2,000 on another card and 1,000 on a store card.  Let's say after making your budget you have 750.00 to pay towards debt.  You make minimum payments on the 4 highest debts and pay the rest on the store card.  Once the store card is paid off then you start putting the additional money on the next highest card until that is paid off.  You continue to do this until all but the car loan is paid off and then put the entire 750.00 towards it.  Once the car loan is paid off you have $750.00 to start putting towards savings.

Three:  Have gazelle-like intensity in paying down your debt.  Gazelle like intensity refers to a gazelle running away from a lion.  You pay off your debt like your life depends on it.  For us, gazelle-like intensity meant stopping homeschooling 2 of  the kids for 1 year while Amy and I both worked full time.  We paid $15,000 of credit card debt in nine months.  Once we were out of debt Amy. was able to take a part-time job in her district, enabling us to begin homeschooling all 3 children again.

The Thing: Discussions

Financial discussions are very helpful.  Sometimes it is easier to hope financial matters resolve themselves, rather than discuss them.  This doesn't work very well.  Discussions are important because goals need to be made, budgets need to be revised, and ideas and feelings need to be discussed.  Amy and I had planned some events for the next few weeks, when we had a financial setback.  We discussed the matter talked about all the possibilities and decided to put off our events rather than dip into savings to pay for them.  We try to have brief discussions before every paycheck to make sure we are on the same page with the implementation of the budget.

Financial discussions are not only between Amy and myself.  Last month I brought an entire paycheck home in cash and illustrated for the kids that every dollar did indeed have a name and showed them how we planned to use that money.

For more A to Z Blogging click here.  For more six words on your Saturday click here.

4-4-2014 A2Z:D is for  Dozen year old Donuts 

Six Word Saturday: Notre Dame Death Notice

My Six Words ... Ted Hesburgh's Legacy: Putting People First.

I come from a Notre Dame family.  My Dad went to Notre Dame; my older sister went there as well.  In fact, that's how they met. 

That joke is one of the first things I think of when I think of the University of Notre Dame.  When I think of Notre Dame, I think of people associated with their football, basketball and marching band programs. The name I associate to Notre Dame more than any other is that of former university president,  Rev. Theodore "Ted" Hesburgh.  Father Ted passed away late Thursday night in South Bend, Indiana, at the age of 97.

Hesburgh served as president of the University of Notre Dame from 1952 to 1987 and was a major national and religious figure.  If you were to google Hesburgh, pictures like the one below of him and Martin Luther King would pop up. You would  also see pictures of him standing with past and former U.S.  presidents from Eisenhower to Obama.  You would see pictures of him with popes.  But the picture that comes to my mind is of him and my grandfather in the 1950's when my Dad was an incoming freshman at Notre Dame.  It is a picture in my mind only, but as clear as any of the images I can pull off the web.

My grandparents were dropping off their oldest son at ND and father Hesburgh had met with some of the parents at a social.  He was introduced to my grandfather and the next day, he saw my grandfather again and remembered his name and other aspects of their conversation.  This is the picture in my mind, it may not be exactly how it went down almost sixty years ago, but all I know is my dad was very impressed that such an important man as Hesburgh would recall talking to his father.  

Ted Hesburgh was many things: one of the greatest educators of the 20th century, a civil rights champion, and a Congressional Gold Medal recipient, just to name a few.  However, his greatest achievements come from his ability to relate to ordinary people like my grandfather and be a model of leadership to ordinary people like my Dad.  

Hesburgh didn't always want to be president of a major university.  He had hoped to serve the Navy and his country as a chaplain on an aircraft carrier.  In 2013 at the age of 95, the Navy made Hesburgh  an honorary chaplain.  While we don't all get the opportunity to advise presidents and march with historical icons, but we do have the opportunity to serve ordinary people in any way we can.  In this way, we can make Father Hesburgh's greatest legacy our own.

For More Six Word Saturday click here

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The Six Word Saturday in Question

It's Saturday (well it's actually very late on Friday but by the time I am done writing this, it will be Saturday.) and time once again for Six Word Saturday at Show My Face Dot Com.  I have decided to use my six words to ask you readers a question.

Here goes .. .

Do you ever break into song?

The other day we learned that a   friend of ours told his wife that he doesn't believe that people ever actually break into song.  My wife quickly  replied that at our house it happens all the time.  Neither Amy nor
 myself will ever be confused with champion crooners.  I can carry a tune in a bucket, but I generally have a better use for the bucket, so the tune suffers.  This doesn't stop us or the kids from spontaneously combusting a tune on a frequent basis.

I grew up in a family that  would break into song at the drop of hat.  When my musical talent was discovered 
it was discovered I had no musical talent, they just made sure that no hats were dropped near me.  In the family we are raising our children , the hats fall with abandon.  We make up songs, make up new lyrics to old songs or just sing it the regular way.

So my question in an I like New York in June fashion, is
how about you?

What are your thought about breaking into song and entering into melody?

To answer my Six Word Inquiry, leave a comment.  To See More Six word entries click here.

Six Word Santa Day

It's December 22nd, the Mayan calendar ended and the world didn't.  So I have  6 words to share:

HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS

For more Six Word Saturday click here

Six Word Saturday Physical Education Edition

It's Time for Six Word Saturday at Show My Face Dot Com.



My Six:

The Burpie Challenge: 64 to 25 

I was driving in the car today with Amy and the family and Amy mentioned doing burpies in Jr. High or High School gym class.  I told her I didn't know what a burpie was.  I some how got roped into training to do 25 burpies by my birthday which is 64 days from now.  SO  Sunday, September 23rd my 48th birthday I will be attempting 25 burpies.  Hopefully, I will know what they are by then.

For more Six Word Saturday Click here.

Six Word Minimum

It's been far too long since I participated in Six Word Saturday at Showmyface.com.  I talked about my new job in my last post.  I didn't mention that I am earning minimum wage for the job.  This fact gave me two (count them) different six word reflections . . .
Haven't made minimum wage since 1996

OR

I make 13.75 cents a minute.

I prefer the second one because it require more math.  It also puts a more positive spin on it.  That's 20.625 cents a minute if I can get some overtime going. 

For more six word Saturday click here.

Six Word Stattler Day

 AS IN MUPPETS

Unlike them, I love the Muppets

For more Six Word Saturday Click here. 

Leave a comment  on this post for a chance to win a set of state quarters. Click here for more details. 



Muppets Statler y Waldorf, a photo by hablandodelasunto3 on Flickr.

Keith Rhymes with Grief.

 IS FOR GRIEF

Wait one minute, you might be thinking.  In yesterday's post you basically promised that G would be for Give-A-Way.  You indicated that you would be giving away some state quarters. 

That's true, I really did.  Then I realized that today (April 7th) is the 3 year anniversary of my brother Keith's death.  I just didn't feel like putting my Crazy Uncle Dave hat on over my mourning brother one.  So, the quarter give-a-way will be soon.  You won't have to wait all the way to Q, I promise.

I have spent better than an hour rehashing Keith stories here and then deleting them.  I do that because this post is not really about remembering Keith.  I do that often.  This post is not really about his life. This post is about the grief I feel from his death.

I thought that it might be good to give a working definition of grief.  Since I decided to check in at Show My Face for Six Word Saturday. Here are my 6 words:

Grief - Deep stress caused by bereavement*.

*Bereavement is generally associated  with the loss of a loved one by death.

Pushing 50 as I am, I am not a total stranger to death.  Most of that death has come as a result of old age.  My grandparents all died between the ages of 79 and 97.  Keith was 7 months from 39 when he passed away.  Sometimes, even now, I can't wrap my head around him being gone. 

I do still have deep stress about his passing.  This stress is not daily, nor weekly, or even monthly.  It will sometimes hit me at random times but generally hits at 3 times during the year: On or near his birthday, the anniversary of his death, and Christmastime.  Teaching school, blogging or just about anything becomes difficult to focus on and I become quite a bit more irritable. 

A few months after Keith died I won a book from the Library Thing Early Reviewers Program about bereavement.  I still haven't read it fully or reviewed it.  I guess it's hard for me to imagine reviewing a book for early reviewers 3 years after it came out.  The book's title "In the Grip of Bereavement"  accurately describes my episodes of grief.  I really do feel like grief has a hold on me during these times.

Keith has now been dead longer than he was sick.  Our sister who is 3.5 years his junior is now the same age he was when he died. Life has gone on without him.  His children were 8 and 5 when he died that means they are 11 and 8 now.  In just 2 years his daughter will have lived longer without a father than with one. 

My faith in God has been a great sustainer over the past 3 years.  Even so,  sometimes the grief is so strong it is all I seem to be able to feel.  Sometimes I am even frightened that someday I may not grieve at all.  These thoughts and feelings are not the entirety of who I am.  but like today's post, which is neither well crafted nor polished, they are incredibly real. 

For more 6 word Saturday Click Here.

To see other G posts in Blogging A to Z click here.

 

Six Words From Monster Jam

SUPER

FLYING

ACTION


THRILLS


LAUGHS

FUN

If you are in the Chicago area click here for Monster deals on how to get to the remaining 4 shows at the All State Arena. Make sure to use the code MOM.

I will have at least 1 more post about the event before the weekend is out..
For more Six Word Saturday click here.

Dreams on Ice

It's Six Word Saturday at Show My Face and it's time to put my blog promoter hat and tell you about the next big thing to do.  I of course will do it in 6 words . . .

Don't Dare Miss Dare to Dream!!!

Here is the 411

Jan 25th - 29th @ All State Arena (Rosemont, Il)
Feb 1st - 12th @ United Center (Chicago, IL)

Get tangled up in the newest thrilling show to hit the ice, Disney On Ice presents Dare to Dream. Experience Disney’s hilarious hair-raising escapade, Tangled; as Rapunzel, her unlikely companion, Flynn, and Maximus, embark on an uproarious journey that takes adventure to new lengths!  Boogie to the beat of the bayou with Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen from The Princess and the Frog, in a magical, musical journey that all begins with a fateful kiss.  And fanciful dreams become reality as Cinderella meets her Prince Charming, with a glass slipper fit for an unforgettable fantasy come true.  All your favorite princesses take to the ice in a spectacular finale at the ultimate Disney Princess event of a lifetime!  Experience the beauty, sparkle, and spirit when Disney On Ice presents Dare to Dream comes to your hometown!



Frying Pans! Who Knew?!?

Cinderella and her Fella

They got my nose wrong!
And you can't read the fine print.
So here it is below . . .

Wanted

 Flynn Rider

Rumored to be in Chicagoland Area with Disney On Ice

Get 4 Tickets for $44 on Weekday Shows

OR Save $4 on Weekend Shows

Redeem offer with code MOM through Ticketmaster.com,

Box Office, or call 1.800.745.3000

Click here or on any of the pictures above to take advantage of this special offer.


Offer not valid on Front Row or VIP seating. No double discounts. Service Charges, Handling and Facility Fees may apply.

 I plan on taking Puppy and company this Wednesday.  Look for our reviews of the show shortly after that.

For More Six Word Saturday show your face or maybe just your tiara at showmyfacedotcom by clicking here, 

Six Word Weather Report

They call this Winter? Yeah Right!



For more 6 word Saturday click here.

*********************************************************************************

Time to get back to my HSBA winner wrap up.  Today's category: Best Current Events. Opinions and Politics Blog.  Winecup Christian Academy won in this category for very good reason.  The pieces I read about bullying,  test taking  and  the perils of public education were well thought out and excellently reasoned.  Here is a sample post  from February 2011.

Six Word Saturday @ Show My Face Dot Com

Starting today, for the next week I will feature posts for all the meme's and carnivals I participate in, whether I have a horse in the race, or not.

I do have 6 words today they are . . .

Why I bring books to Library.

The reason I do this is because I am a chronic over-packer. I always bring along more things than I could possibly accomplish. Today, I brought 3 books that  I am supposed to be reviewing for this blog. I will probably not get to any of them, since that was not the purpose of this trip to the library. Come to think of it, neither was making this post, so I best be going. Before I do let me tell you about my HSBA featured blog. Today's category is . . .

Best Homeschool Methods Blog.

The winner was 1+1+1=1

Aside from the mathematically challenged title, this is an excellent blog which I generally carry around somewhere in my sidebar.  If you are looking for fun preschool home school ideas, this is definitely the blog for you. 

Click here for a sample post, and click here for more 6 Word Saturday.

Next Time: Santa comes early for Santo?

9 score and 18 years ago

I wasn't planning on participating in Six Word Saturday today. But here I am, and here's my six:

I learned something without using google.

Today Spider Droid finished reading the book, Gettysburg: The Graphic Novel to, which he has been doing over the past week or so. The book tells the story of the battle of Gettysburg and culminates with Lincoln giving the Gettysburg address.

As he was reading I realized that Lincoln gave the speech 148 years ago. So that's 9 score and 18 years ago. I'm 47 so it's also 3 me's and 7 years ago. In honor of the Cubs hiring a new manager, it's the last time Cubs were world champions and 45 years ago. Okay, you get it. It was a while back.

While I am good at remembering birthdays and anniversaries in our family, Google's little fancy designs are usually what tell me of the commemoration of a historical birth or event. Today I learned about it without Google. In fact if you take a look at a Google, you will see I scooped them. How about that?

For more Six Word Saturday Click Here.

Next Time: Aliens on the street?!?

Nursing Home Visits, A Guest Post.

This morning, I have invited Amber Paley, who writes about nursing home abuse at www.nursinghomeabuse.net to write a guest article here. Amber, in addition to her work at NHA DOT NET, is a frequent guest blogger and article writer. Today she is bringing to us tips for taking children to nursing homes. I asked her to do so for a number of reasons. One is that I have recently joined a home school adopt a grandparent group that is going to be visiting nursing homes with their children.

Let's give a very special HSD welcome to Amber Paley! Also Amber did not realize this but she is participating this week in Six Word Saturday at ShowMyFaceDotCom.



Her Six Words . . .

Nursing Homes: Tips for Taking Children

Visiting a loved one who lives in a nursing home with your family can be a great experience for all of those involved. Here are some tips for your trips:

1. Talk to You Children about the Facility in Advance.

Try to communicate to your children what they should expect at the nursing home. Explain that some people in the home have disabilities that cause them to need wheel chairs, walkers, etc.; also explain that some residents can become confused and/or unresponsive.

2. Plan Trips in Advance.

Planning trips in advance will not only give your loved ones something to look forward to, but also allow you to plan the time of day you visit. For loved ones with mental and physical disabilities, this is imperative. Certain times of the day are better while others are worse; make sure you find out which times of the day are best for a visit to your loved one to ensure the best trip possible for everyone.

3. Plan Fun Child-Loved One Activities.

Planning activities that will engage both your elder and children will make the experience fun for everyone. Some children can be shy; games help everyone be more comfortable.

Here are some ideas for what to do . . .

Play! Checkers, Chess, Card Games, Board Games.

Make arts and crafts. Holiday Ornaments and Decorations (Christmas tree ornaments, Hanukah decorations, etc.), Scrapbooks, Family Photo Books.

Read to each other. If possible, have loved one read to your child and or Have your child read to your loved one.

Engage each other.

1. Have everyone decorate your loved one’s room for the holidays.
2. Sing familiar songs or holiday songs.
3. If your child plays a small instrument, have them play it for your loved one.
4. Many facilities host events and activities, make sure to get a facility calendar so that you and your children can participate in these things with your elder.
5. Look through old family albums.
6. Try to bring items with you that both your children and loved one both love and can enjoy together.
7. Have your children do arts and crafts in advance to give to your loved one as a gift.
8. Share current events and experiences in your life and your children’s lives with your loved one; show him or her pictures of your pets, your children’s soccer games, etc.
9. Ask your loved one about the things going on in their life and be sure to listen intently.

Get moving. Take a walk with your loved one and children around and outside of the facility. If your loved one is able, take day trips. Some ideas are:

GO TO . . .

The park for a picnic.
A local parade.
Have ice cream or lunch.
To a family reunion.
To get his or her hair done.

4. Most Importantly, Be Affectionate!
Nursing home residents do not get much direct human contact at the facilities other than when they are assisted by facility personnel. Your loved one will love hugs, kisses, and when you hold his or her hand. Make sure to have your children be affectionate with your elder; it will make his or her day.


Thanks Amber for a wonderful post. I always am open to having a guest blogger here at HSD. You have to admit, Amber set the bar pretty high. So if you have a post that's got some game, get in touch with me. For More Six Word Saturday click here.

Next Time: Sunday's Cool for Spiderdroids.

3 Ring Circus. 6 word review.

It's time once again for Six Word Saturday at Show My Face Dot Com.

Here are my Six:

Went to Circus, Here's some pictures.

Clowns

Bunny the Ringmaster

I look like circus folk don't I?

Signature Clown Move

Family Circus Clowns

The Greatest Show of Hands

Let's talk about the elephant in the room.

How many clowns does it take to change a light bulb?

High Wire Walking










High Wire Biking

Apparently the first Elephant didn't see the green light.

Sitting Tigers











Jumping Tigers

That's All Folks!

The circus in question was the Ringling Brother's Barnum and Bailey Circus doing their Fully Charged show. I had never been to see this circus before as I mentioned in my last post. It was a fantastic show as I hope you can see by all the pics and vids. For More Six Word Saturday show your face with or without the clown nose @showmyface.com. If you are or will be in the Chicago area this month click here for discount tickets to the show.

Six Word Rewind

This week I showed my face in the blogosphere after a month long absence. What better place to get back in the swing of things than participating in Six Word Saturday @ShowMYfaceDOTcom?

My Six Words:

They (Still) Drive Me Crazy Sometimes
About a month into my blog, I started sharing poems I wrote here. The first time out I was all ready to put out a poem I had written 10 years prior. I decided at the last minute to write an new one instead. Here is what happened . .

Original Air date February 2009

I, like many people, am a closet poet. That is where my poems remain, in a drawer, next to the closet. From time to time I am going to pull one out of that drawer and share it here. This time to show I am not merely a former poet, I will present one I wrote only hours ago.

They Drive me Crazy Sometimes

She drives me crazy sometimes
Who can win an argument with an amnesiac?
But, no one gets me like she does
She makes our house a haven
And, only laughs when my jokes are funny.

She drives me crazy sometimes
Who made her the third parent, anyways?
But, beneath that bossy boiler
Lies an artist's soul
Skipping and humming. Playful and loving.

He drives me crazy sometimes.
Who can have that many questions about Star Wars?!?
But, he is as adventurous as a pirate.
As giving as Robin Hood.
And as resourceful as Macgyver.

She drives me crazy sometimes
Who wants to be a puppy every single day?
But, she makes cuteness an art form
She's a three year old thesaurus
And she loves to ask God to help people.

They drive me crazy sometimes
But, isn't it worth the trip?

Meanwhile back in 2011. The family still drives me crazy on a somewhat frequentamente basis. Puppy has branched off and is now imagining herself as other animals. Today she was part wolf part tiger. In almost 2 years time they still have the same strengths and weaknesses. Being part and parcel of their family is still worth any craziness endured.

In the past 2 years more of my poetry has surfaced. You can check them all out by clicking here.

Speaking of clicking, click here to return to Six Word Saturday.

Next Time: Don't Know Much About History - A Review

Fragments From a Waiting Room

It is Friday and I am in a waiting room. What am I doing in a waiting room? Waiting, of course. These puppies are perfectly name.



Spider Droid has an appointment so Puppy and I are waiting. Since I have a few minutes I thought I'd participate in Friday Fragments at Half Past Kissing Time.

Fragment 1

I stole this picture from Facebook. My wife and I love the alphabet game. We play it all the time, and have talked about how such a sign would come in very handy. Technically this sign is inefficient. Instead of a Y they should have put a J. There is already a Y in You're Welcome.

Fragment II


I have spent the past few days tweaking the look of this blog. The biggest change is one I made about a month ago when I added a slide show. I figures since I would not be posting much for a while that at least people could get a glimpse of us if they visited. I might make a few more changes in the weeks to come.









Fragment III




One of my new look items is a return to having a quote on my masthead. To see some of the quotes that were there previously just click on my quotable quotes page. Today's quote I heard on K-Love while en route to said appointment. You can hear the quote by watching the devotional below.


Fragment IV

I am collecting state quarters again for the sole purpose of giving them away on my blog. My last State Quarter Give-A-Way was a pretty big deal, and I want to do it again. I have been bringing home a role of quarters each week and am now up to 43 state quarters. When I hit 50, Crazy Dave will make a long overdue appearance.

Well That's all the waiting I have to do today. You won't have to wait long for another post because I have my Six Word Saturday all ready to go. For more Friday Fragments click here.

Next Time: 6 Word HSD Rewind

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

The New Pooh Review

On January 13th I posted the trailer for the new Winnie The Pooh film entitling the post six months and two days from now to signify when the film was coming to theatres.

The film came out today (Friday July 15th 2011)

My Six words: Six Months Two Days go fast!

I mean, wow do they fly. The whole family and I were all planning on going today. Amy had other things going but I took 3 kids and 3 stuffed animals and we had a fantastic time.

The film is just over an hour which is about the only bad thing I can say about the movie. It takes all the best elements of the books and movies and blends them together for a hilarious, mesmerizing and extremely satisfying experience.

One review of this movie said this was a perfect film for Pre K and Kindergartners and they are not wrong. I think it is also a perfect film for older children and adults. My soon to be 7th grader was laughing the loudest of anyone in the theatre.

Animated movies have grown up a lot over the years. There are some that are so adult that I wouldn't ever consider taking my children to. Winnie The Pooh is quite the opposite. It is a film that I would want to watch even if I didn't have children. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

For more Six Word Saturday click here.