Gossip's Effects

Today, I was going to write about abortion. Instead, I'm going to talk about the effects of gossip. After writing the Fox's introduction, I was thinking about those days. In the pictures, I look really happy. I look like I'm having a really good time. In truth, I was desperately happy. Any time that was good was fleeting. Here is my story. I hope that it helps someone rethink that gossip they're planning to share. Perhaps, it will encourage you to teach your children not to gossip.

When I was 17, I joined the Navy. Prior to that, I suppose I had been very sheltered. It was during boot camp that I was introduced to cattiness and gossip.

Before the birth of my 3rd child, most of my friends were guys. That's just the way it was. I have always been a tomboy and never felt comfortable around women. I now feel more comfortable around women, but I am still less shy around men. I understand how they think. I have a harder time with women. Perhaps it's all the extra testosterone I have coursing through my body.

Anyway, I didn't make a lot of female friends in boot camp. The friends that I did make were a bit unconventional. I was naive, young, and very intelligent. I was lazy, and thought I was better than everyone else. I was also more comfortable talking to the guys than the gals and apparently, the gals took this as flirting. From what I have learned in the last 15 years, any talking done between a woman and a man can be classified as flirting by another woman. I was classified as a slut. Although, how I could be a slut when I was not alone with a male for the entire 2 months I was there, I don't know. By the time boot camp was over, I was just tired of being there and ready to be gone. They say that you make friendships that last a lifetime in boot camp. All I did was learn that I didn't want any female friends.

So, I went to San Diego for training. I still did not have a clue what was going on. By the end of the first two weeks I had managed to alienate almost my entire class of 20 students. Again, I'm not sure how I did it. I do know that I am a touch-feely person. I come from a touchy-feely family. When I joined the Navy, I found that men were more than willing to wrap their arm around my waist while we talked, while women didn't want to touch other women. In all honesty, I never felt that these men were hitting on me. They treated me like I was their little sister. However, apparently, that is not how the other women saw it. I do hesitate to call any of us women. Looking back at it, even those who were ten years older than me acted like little girls.

One day, I was standing at the watch desk writing something down. I have no idea what. I had borrowed a pen from the guy on watch and stuck it in my mouth. There was a girl standing there, whom I had never even seen before, and she said, "I can't believe you're letting her put that in her mouth. You don't know where her mouth's been." My jaw just dropped. I was shocked. Quite frankly, I am a mostly nice person. It would never dawn on me to be so rude. I had always believed that people were mostly nice. This just continued throughout my tech school. The weekend before we graduated, everyone in the class except me went to the beach. I didn't even know they were going (including the instructor) until I saw the pictures taken by one of the 2 friends I had in my class.

You remember that by the time I left boot camp, I was just ready to leave? Well, by the time I left A School, I was ready to leave life. I had been gossiped about (still don't know what they were gossiping about), shunned, and raped. I was suicidal. I actually attempted to commit suicide, but a guy caught my shirt as I was jumping out the window. He explained to me in no uncertain terms that regardless of what I thought of my life, my mother would not appreciate me dying. This is what kept me alive for over a year.

When I went to that love boat, I discovered that the pain could just go on and on and on. Again, I am assuming the reason for the animosity was because I got along better with men than women. It didn't help that there were 100 people on board my ship and only 20 of them women. I was the youngest person on board that ship by a matter of 6 years to the next youngest-and he was a young civilian seaman. The next youngest woman? She was 10 years older than me. The women didn't want to be my friends. As a matter of fact, when I started to make friends with one of the girls, they transferred her out of my watch and actually told me it was so that we wouldn't become friends. Since we weren't on the same watch rotation, we rarely had time off together. So, I made friends where I could. Unfortunately, I was again labeled things that I will not even begin to repeat.

What is sad, is that these labels became a self fulfilling prophecy. You call someone a slut long enough and after a while, she just won't care if she is one. After all, when you are barely keeping yourself alive, whether or not you're sleeping around doesn't matter to you. Interestingly, these women were also sleeping around. Unfortunately, they were married. But, I can honestly say, that these women thought I was sleeping with a lot more people than I was.:) However, I was miserable. When we pulled into port, I found the nearest bar, got drunk, and was back in bed by 10. I was not really a partyer. Rather, I was looking for solace in a bottle.

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On my 19th birthday, I drank my last drink. I realized that I was drinking for all the wrong reasons. It didn't make my life any better. But, it was the first step on a long road to healing.

I spent a lot of time in the engine room talking to a couple of the engineers. I think one of the reasons I was not well like by the Navy women is that I haunted the civilian work spaces and learned all kinds of things. I like working and was totally bored by my job. So, I learned about everyone else's job. In the process, I made some really good friends, most of them "old" men. I say old because to an 18 year old, 50 is old. They all treated me like their daughter/granddaughter. One of them even took me home with him to meet his wife, go fishing, and babysit his kids (I really missed children). I digress. One of the engineers became a really good friend. To this day, I see him as father figure. I haven't seen him in 11 years, but that is beside the point. One day, we were standing outside a bar in Chania, Crete. I was complaining bitterly about what a horrible person I was. He took me by the hand and led me all around town while we talked. Finally, he led me to a break wall by the sea. He told me to look out over the water. This is what he said, "You see the ocean? It is wild. You see how it breaks against the rocks? It is challenging the rocks. But, it is still beautiful. That is you. You are wild. You challenge everything. But, inside, you are beautiful."

I will never forget that night. It really changed my life. It was very hard to build emotional reserves while in the midst of the storm. But, I held onto that nugget and my life started to change. I can now look back on those days without a lot of remorse. For years, I hated what I had done during those times. Now, I love the person that I am. I know that if not for that trial by fire, I would not be the strong woman I am today. However, I wish that that young, naive, impossibly hopeful, dreamer had not had to come crashing down quite so drastically.

I want other young women to not have to learn this like I did. When it all started, I just wanted to be every body's friend. That was the type person I was. By the time it ended, I trusted no one. It is still hard for me to trust. When I don't get included in something, I feel like the person must not like me. I have to take a moment and remember that these people have known each other for years, and it is hard to remember to call the new girl. Yet, it hurts. I don't think that 15 years ago, I would have even noticed. I don't think I will ever again not notice.

So, ladies, go out today and say something good about someone. Teach your daughters to say good things about people. Teach your sons to encourage their female compatriots to say something good. Speaking ill of someone can have detrimental effects. It could have killed me. It did kill this 13 year old girl.

The Fox

Now that you've met the Wolf, let's meet the Fox.

Once upon a time, there was a cute little fox. This little fox was born in Oklahoma and her parents named her Kristina. Legend has it that the fox's mother knew a little girl named Kristina when she was growing up. Apparently, this little Kristina was a dainty, feminine, sweet, clean little girl. Maybe the Fox's mother thought her daughter would emulate this girl she had never met if she named her after her. Unfortunately, the Fox's mother didn't understand that her daughter was not a little girl, but rather a fox. This is her story.

While the Wolf was off gallivanting around the Pacific, the Fox was being a wonderfully good girl in high school.

After high school, the Fox joined the Navy at age 17.

First, she went to boot camp in Great Lakes, IL. Now, you must understand that the Fox hates the cold. Foxes prefer to hibernate, don't you know? She made the great mistake of going to Great Lakes in February.


Then, the Fox went to school in San Diego, CA to become a radioman. Yes, I know I said radioman. According to the Fox, that denotes the fact that she is a human (even though she is a fox) and not a dog. So, please, no radiowoman comments or the Fox might foam at the mouth.

The Fox spent all her time studying. She had no time for anything else.Nope, no time.None at all.Study, study, study.

Then, after she got certified qualified, the Navy sent the Fox to Norfolk, VA.

There, she joined the crew of the USNS Big Horn.

On the USNS Big Horn, all they did was work, work, work.

For some reason, the Wolf, calls it the Love Boat.

The Fox can't figure out why. After all, all they ever did was work, work, work.

And no play, ever.

When the ship pulled into shore, the Fox spent her time searching all the bars in the Mediterranean for the love of her life.

Italy

Spain

Spain

Greece

Once, in Spain, she convinced a German sailor to give her his hat. The Fox still has it. Her children use it for dress up.

For some reason, the Fox forced me to include pictures that prove she did something besides drink while she was in Europe. Here they are.

Spain

Spain

Italy

Italy

As you can see, the Fox spent a lot of time, like the Wolf, being sad and lonely. She was devastated when she left the USNS Big Horn without finding her one true love. However, she knew that she was going to a place that she loved. After all, she had spent a large portion of the summer in Greece and was returning there for her next duty station. And, as we all know, the Wolf was on his way there at the very same time.....

Laminated Trees

wordless wednesday

Review Tuesday 2-26-2008

Today's website is Enchanted Learning. Our product this week is the Expedit bookcase by Ikea. The curriculum of the week is Math-U-See.


Enchanted Learning: Free or $20/year.

This is a great website for teachers. I use something from this website almost weekly. I mostly use it for Dominic, my preschooler, because he loves worksheets. However, I also use it for Gabriel, my 5th grader, for special things. For instance, I printed off some stuff for Presidents' Day and plan to print out some stuff for Leap Day. I frequently use things for Xavier, my 1st grader. There are A LOT of dot-to-dots and mazes available for just about every subject you could imagine and Xavier loves dot-to-dots and mazes.

Enchanted Learning has lots of "books" to print. These are a big hit with my younger students.
They also have printable calendars, maps, coloring pages, weblinks, and so much more! This is a great place to start when looking for work sheets for your children. If you are looking for just a little something, this is a great place for it. You never know what you'll find.

A lot is available for free. There is also a lot that is only available to members. I have found it to be worth the $20. I certainly would have paid a lot more than that if I had bought a bunch of different books to cover all the subjects available here.



Expidit Bookcase from Ikea: This bookcase costs $199.00. We got ours for $79. If you live near an Ikea, I recommend haunting their AS IS section. Our bookcase was returned because it had a scratch. The scratch was on the back of one of the shelves (once I turned it around-they're reversible). So, I got a great deal. I know that they show up often, and wish that I was living close still.

First, a word about Ikea. I LOVE Ikea. I love Ikea because the furniture is an okay price and a comparable quality. There are a lot of places that have the same quality of furniture with higher prices. I'll take the cheaper price. However, mostly, I love Ikea because they have free child care for children ages 3 and up (to a certain height--I'm not sure why they go by height rather than age, but I know my oldest is too tall now). I also love Ikea because they have play areas all over the store for the younger kids. Finally, I love Ikea because their cafeteria has yummy, cheap food. I really miss their Swedish Meat Balls.

Okay, okay, I'll review the bookcase. Get off my back!

This is not a solid wood bookcase. It is particle board. I would rather it was solid wood, but that's not in my budget right now. For particle board, it is really heavy duty. It is also really heavy, especially after you fill it up with books. This one is approximately 73" by 73", with a depth of 16". I like this book case because the cubes help keep my books organized. They are much less likely to all fall down when a couple books get removed than when they are in a bookcase that has a straight shelf without dividers. I also like it because the cubes are tall. I have only found one book and a picture album that will not fit on the shelf standing up. On my previous shelf, there were several books that I had to lean forward. As you can see, I have lots of books stacked on their sides. I need another book shelf. I guess I'm going to have to get Gary busy on that. It comes with a wall anchor that I strongly encourage you to use.

The website says that you need two people to put this bookcase together. I would argue that you just need a really talented person to put it together, since I have done so twice without any help. Of course, it would have been easier if I had waited for Gary to get home. But, if I did that, I'd never get anything done.

Math-U-See: From Math-U-See's website

Math·U·See's goal is to help produce confident problem solvers who enjoy the study of math. The reason we study math is so we can apply what we learn in everyday situations. The students learn their math facts, rules, and formulas, and are able to use this knowledge in real life applications. The study of math is much more than committing a list of facts to memory. It includes memorization, but it also encompasses learning the concepts that are critical to problem solving.

Getting started with Math-U-See can be expensive. The student kit is $20. The Teacher kit is $35. The blocks are $35. Yes, you really do need the blocks. However, once you get the blocks, each year's books run right at $55, until you get to Algebra, when they jump to $90. However, considering that Saxon's Homeschool program runs at $95 for elementary school, and $67 for Algebra, I'd say it's comparable, pricewise, to most good homeschool math curriculum.

From me: I love Math-U-See. I have three children. My oldest, Gabriel, is a left brained thinker. My middle son, Xavier, is a right brained thinker, and my youngest, Dominic, is a middle brained thinker. They are all learning really well from this curriculum.

Here's how it works. You either watch the DVD or read the teacher's book. Then, you teach your children the lesson. Your child does the lesson and then does the review. Each lesson (there are 30 per book) is broken up into 3 practice pages (for the new concept) and 3 review pages. The premise is that the child only does as many practice pages as it takes to understand the new concept being taught. Then, he moves on to the review pages. The review pages cover things that come from all previous lessons (including from previous books).

This is how we do it at my house. The kid watches the DVD (about 1.5 minutes long). He does the first practice page. If he gets everything right on it, he moves on to the first review page. If he gets everything right on the review page, he is done with that lesson and gets to move on to the next lesson.
Dominic is the exception to this. I teach Dominic his lesson. Then, Dominic does every single page. He is 4 and working his way through the 1st grade curriculum. So, we're just taking it really slow. He needs the repetition. After the first page of the first lesson, I started copying his pages because he sometimes needs to do more than 3. Copying the pages enables me to copy them again if he needs to do them again. Again, he is 4 working his way through a 1st grade curriculum. I imagine that if I were to wait until next year, he could just zoom through it. However, he desperately wants to do it now and he is getting the concepts, so we're doing it. He is just working much slower than the other two.

Before doing MUS, we did Saxon. Now, I have nothing against Saxon. I used it for the 1 semester I was homeschooled. I loved it! My brother used it when he was homeschooled. My sister used it for the 5 years she was homeschooled. My mom used it to teach herself Algebra. However, it just wasn't working for us. So, after much pain and angst, I took the advice of another homeschooler and switched to MUS.

It has been a blessing. Gabriel had a horrible ordeal with math in 1st grade. By the end of 1st grade, this kid, who was adding and subtracting in his head when he was 3, was convinced that he couldn't do math. It took us 3 years to get him comfortable doing math again. It wasn't until we started using MUS this year that he really took off. He came to me one day a few months ago and said, "Mom, I feel like I'm getting my math brain back!" He was so excited. I, of course, was excited for him.

I love math and want all my children to at least enjoy the beauty of a math problem. (Yes, I know I'm strange. It's who I am.) Math-U-See has given that back to Gabriel. Also, it is easy to accelerate through. Xavier was able to do Alpha (1st grade) this past fall and is now a third of the way through Beta (2nd grade). He is having a blast and if he doesn't slow down, he'll be done with Calculus in 8th grade. Then what will I do with him? Oh well, I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Good luck with math!

Memes

So, I've been tagged-twice. First, I was tagged by Bill over at Quaffs and Quibbles. This happened a week ago and I'm a first class procrastinator. I'm sorry Bill. So, here's the first one.


(1) Link to the person that tagged you.
(2) Post the rules on your blog.
(3) Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
(4) Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
(5) Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

1. My hair turned curly during puberty (I looked like I had a Jerry Curl). Then, it went straight after the first kid, wavy after the second, and is now curly again.

2. I play the piano, but my piano won't stay in tune longer than a couple weeks, so I don't play often.

3. I have 3 tattoos. One is a representation of my astrological sign (and most people have no idea that I have it--even those who've seen me in a swim suit), one contains a shortened version of my maiden name, and one includes my middle name.

4. I love to sew and usually make our Halloween costumes without patterns.

5. When I sew, my entire house becomes a mess because I totally, completely focus on sewing. So, I have to confine my sewing to once a year.

6. I am short waisted-from my shoulders to my waist, there are only 8". (How I carried a 22" child, I don't know.)


Now, for Stina's tag, which was just given to me yesterday, on Lord, Guard and Guide, and made me remember Bill's tag. Thanks Stina!

. You have to post the rules before you give your answers.
2. You must list one fact about yourself beginning with each letter of your middle name. (If you don't have a middle name, use your maiden name or your mother's maiden name).
3. At the end of your blog post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name. (Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged.)


L-Libraries could build huge buildings with the amount of money I pay them in fines.
I-Indigo used to be my favorite color and is about even with Crimson now.
B-Believe in precognition, and wish I could believe in psychokinesis-because it would be so much fun to be able to move things with my mind.
E-Every morning when I get up, I have a large glass of iced tea, no matter what the weather is.
R-Roamer-I usually live somewhere for about 2 months before I start looking. However, this time, I'm just looking for a vacation spot.:)
T-Talks constantly. If there is no one to talk to, I talk to myself, even if I just do it in my head.
Y-Yeoman-what I want to be. I want to can all my own food, milk my own cow, raise my own eggs.... I just have to fence my yard first to keep the deer out.

So, there you go, more about me than you ever wanted to know (with more to come tomorrow with the next installment of the Fox & the Wolf).


Aaah, yes, I forgot to tag people! So, here goes, pick a meme and run with it (kind of like, "pick sharp or dull scissors and run with with them.") The Clues Academy, The Mom with Brownies, Catholic Stewardship (when you're feeling better), and Chancellor Manor. That's all because I'm not going to be a tag hog.:) If you want to do it, please do so, then leave a comment for me and I'll add you to my tag list.:)

Grocery Shopping for the Newly Frugal

So, I am in the process of reducing our grocery expenditures. I understand that this will take time, but I am impatient to see the results. So, I thought I'd share this payday's expenditures with you. I'm not going to get in detail on most of the trips. I'll go into detail on a few fun ones. I would have taken some nice pictures, but Gary refuses to help put away the groceries if I put it all on the table first. So, I am sacrificing viewing pleasure for laziness on my part (I wanted his help:).

On Feb 15th, I went to Meijer, Walgreens, CVS, and Rite Aid. I spent $37.37, $4.81, $1.23, and $3.75 respectively, for a total of $47.16.

On Feb 19th, I went to Meijer, Walgreens, Rite Aid, and Kroger. I spent $4.60, $21.60, $4.98, and $8.20, for a total of $39.38.

That Ride Aid trip got me:dishwasher detergent for $2.49 (regularly $4.49), Olay bar soap 4 @ $1.50 (regularly $2.99/ea), and a 3 pk of poster board $1.99. I had a $0.50 coupon for the dishwasher detergent. Then, I had 2 $2.00 coupons and 1 $1.00 coupon for the bar soap. I ended up paying a total of $4.98. I will be getting a $1.50 rebate for the dishwasher detergent. Plus, if I purchase another $19 of certain beauty products (the Olay counts), I'll get a $10 rebate. I'm going to see if I can find some good deals on that this week.

On Feb 22nd, I went to Meijer, Kroger, and Walgreens. I spent $19.99, $4.99, and $9.00, for a total of $33.98.

Now, at this point, there were several things that we needed desperately. The main thing we needed was cat food and kitty litter. We have 3 cats and they will not go to the bathroom outside, ugh! So, we go through a lot of the stuff. It is my goal to wean them to outside bathroom breaks by April. However, in the meantime, the stuff is expensive. Well, a few weeks ago, I got a coupon in the mail for 15% off all purchases in the pet department of Kroger. I've been waiting to be able to use it. Then, I got a coupon this week for $20 off a purchase of $200. Now, using my new way of doing groceries, I have not even come close to purchasing that amount in groceries at one time in the past 3 weeks. However, I figured I might be able to do so with my pet purchases. So, here's what I bought today. It's a little bit long, so feel free to skip to the end to see the end result.

cat litter 29.67
cat food 54.86
cat treats 20.33 (with a total sale savings of $5.19) As you can see, before coupons, after sales, my cat stuff alone, cost $104.86.
Then, I got 5 boxes of cereal, milk, eggs, paper towels, half & half, 2 coffee cakes, 5 TV dinners, 2 "single servings" of Nesquik Milk (on sale as a treat for my oldest), 3 boxes of Pasta Roni, 4 boxes of Kraft Mac&Cheese, 2 boxes of Cocoa, Tortilla chips, 2 boxes of tostada shells, tortillas, 2 bottles of Pert Plus (I have a rebate coupon for one of these), oatmeal, 4 cans of diced tomatoes, 4 cans of creamed corn, 2 pouches of tuna, fire starter logs, marshmallows, 2 jars of peanut butter, jelly, a razor (regularly 9.99), bagels, spaghetti, raw spinach, raisins, 2 bags of egg noodles, 3 packages of Pepperidge Farm Cinnamon Bread (on sale for the middle child), bananas, apples, carrots, and blueberries.

Now, before sales and coupons, my total was $269.28. After sales, my total was $218.59 (actually, it was a little more, with tax, before she started ringing in the coupons. I think it was $221). Then, after she took off all my coupons (She skipped a $3.00 one, ugh!), my total out of pocket was $148.19. Considering that before sales, my cat stuff would have cost me $110 (I've done some comparison shopping and Kroger is about even, if not less than, the other stores around here for cat food. Walmart, interestingly enough, was more on ALL of it!), I consider that a pretty good trip! I know it is nothing compared to the $35/week that Crystal spends, but if I really want to be that frugal, I'm going to have to get rid of my cats. This summer, my pet food bill will go up when we get a dog. However, I consider a dog cheaper and more fun than an installed security system.:) From research, a dog is the most effective way to deter intruders. So, considering how much my dear husband is out of town, we're biting the bullet, putting up a fence, and getting a dog after we get back from Florida.

I have two more stops this week, at Meijer and CVS. Those two trips should cost about $25 combined. So, for the first 2 weeks, that'll be a total of about $293.71. I'll be getting refunds for Rite Aid for at least $4.49. I'll be getting a refund from Walgreens for $21.98, and a refund from Pert for $2.50. That's a total refund of $28.97. I don't consider that part of this month's grocery purchases, however. When I get the refund, I'll apply it toward the next month's purchases.

I am trying to get my grocery bill down by $300/month by the end of May. This pay period, I will have spent approximately $100 less than budgeted. Since I hopefully bought enough cat food and kitty litter for a couple months, that will really help my budget for the next few pay periods. Hopefully, by the time I need to buy more, I will have saved up a bunch of coupons again.

Testing my Homeschooler

I know that a lot of homeschoolers don't believe in standardized testing. I plan to test my children all the years that it is available to them. I really don't care what most of the scores say. That is not the reason for it. The reason I'm going to be doing it is to provide my children with the practice and knowledge of what it is like to take standardized tests.

While I can have my children use test preparation materials, there is just no experience quite like sitting a room full of absolutely silent people, the only sounds coming from the scratching of pencils on paper, turning pages, people shifting in their seats, and the occasional cough. I believe that they need to get used to the stress that leads up to these tests. They also need to know that no matter how they do on the tests, they'll keep right on doing what they need to in their lessons.

You see, I don't teach to tests. I teach my children what they need to learn to be successful men. Those things will not always fall in line with what the test is testing on this year. However, over time, it will even out. But, to be able to get into college, and many jobs (including the military), they will have to take standardized test. Many problems are run into by people who are bad testers. So, I want my children to understand testing, and not be bothered by it.

That being said, tomorrow my oldest, Gabriel, is taking a test that does matter. He is taking out of grade level testing that will enable him to participate in summer programs for gifted students. It will also clear the way for him to take the ACT early. So, we are pretty excited about it. At the same time, neither one of us is stressed about it. No matter the outcome, our life will go on. And that's what matters.

Helping You Organize

So, last week, I promised you that my laundry room would be next. Well, I lied. I did my linen closet next. If you scroll down, you'll see pictures of it all finished. However, I know that there are those of you out there who want to become more organized. So, here are before and after pictures of my laundry room organization. I am also including a few tips.


Before:

Now, before you begin your organization tribulations, there are few things you're going to need.

A tall glass of iced tea, preferably with lots of sugar in it, or a beer, if you prefer.

Talk Radio, preferably Rush Limbaugh.

A Trash Bag, because you know it's going to fill up.

A basket for things that don't belong in this room.

After you have all these things, you should do some stretches and take a look around. Roll your shoulders a bit. Then, after you're fully prepared, start taking stuff off the shelves. I have to admit that I started with 2 shelves that were mostly organized and 1 that wasn't too bad. So, I probably had an advantage over some of you. However, I have been there before. It can be overcome. Get to it!


After photos:

I put the cats' litter box on a rug because it helps cut down on the litter on the floor. I can just shake it out and wash it, versus having to sweep the entire laundry room, and vaccuum the playroom.



Now, I know a lot of you are wondering, "Why does she have a doll house when she doesn't have any girls?" Well, my friends, that is no doll house. That is a G.I.Joe barracks. My father-in-law made that for my oldest son for his 7th birthday (you know, the one with the G.I.Joe cake?). My mother-in-law and father-in-law collaborated on it. They made cots for the G.I.Joes. The only problem is that they didn't make any foot lockers for all the stuff that G.I.Joe needs to be able to deploy at a moment's notice.

I know that you are all dying to see pictures of my linen closet. But, first you have to see what my 4-year-old did, in his spare time, the other day. He frequently organizes my cake tips. However, he had done that only the day before and was looking for a new challenge. Under my bathroom sink is about at his eye level, so I suggested that he go organize it. He spent a good hour in there taking everything out and, finally, putting everything away. Since then, about a week ago, he has frequently mentioned to me how nice it is to have it so nice and neat. He has also organized the other two bathroom sinks.

Now, for the linen closet. Every time Dominic (4) passes the linen closet with the door open (which isn't often since he and I both have a problem with open doors...), he comes to be and thanks me for making the linen closet so beautiful. I love that kid. I can't wait til he's tall enough to organize my spices.

First, I took all the sheets out. Dominic helped me with this. Then, I refolded everything so that it was neat. Then, I put it all back in. After I put it back in, I attached cards to the shelves so that the dear husband and children will know where to put things. That's the problem with being a perfectionist--you're the only one who can do things right. Although, it looks like Dominic will be able to help me in a couple years.

Finally, here is some motivation for getting organized. You might find something you were missing or had forgotten about. I found these lovely kitchen towels that were my grandmother's. I love them because they make me think of her. So, now, they are hanging in my kitchen. I do wonder, though, if some people might think they are racist.