Friday, May 31, 2013

Food Waste Friday and True Food Confessions--May 31, 2013

It's time for Food Waste Friday, when the Frugalgirl encourages us to post pictures from the previous week of wasted food from our household. This accountability hopefully will help us to be more careful with our food and maybe save some money. Also, I am using this public forum to encourage us to eat out less which includes better meal planning. You can follow how we are doing in this endeavor by reading True Food Confessions.

This Week's Food Waste

NONE


This Week's True Food Confessions

Baked chicken, spinach pie, kale, asparagus, fruit tray, steak sandwiches, Shepard's Pie...hearty and tasty


 Okay, if you really want True Food Confessions, it's the weekends that fall apart for us. Everyone's home (returning from school, etc.) and trying to accomplish a lot on the weekend. No one wants to cook and everyone wants to eat out. The perfect storm for the pizza we love so much along with whatever we pass by during our travels. The difference this past weekend was that we went to a cook out and we celebrated Theodore's birthday with grilled steaks. Theo, one of the Carnivores, made the rest of them very happy with this choice for his birthday meal. He also chose grilled asparagus and sauteed kale which made the non-carnivore happy. To top it all off, we sang Happy Birthday to him around a very rich cheesecake. Let's just say that everyone went away happy that night.

We did a little better on the week nights. Two days I got the food ready before I went to work and then put it in the oven when I arrived home. We were also able to have leftovers a couple of times. However, it seems that some of the leftovers disappeared during the middle of the night. Apparently sleeping makes some of us hungry. No new recipes for this week, but I have one that I want to try this weekend.

Until next time...

 

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Boys vs. Girls--Wally's birthday party


Before I had kids, I thought that each child was an individual, and didn't believe much in gender stereotypes in children. Little boys ran and jumped a lot because that's the kind of games they were taught. Little girls played with dolls because that was the kind of toys they were given. I thought that if all kids, regardless of gender, were exposed to the same things, they would have the same tendencies. Then I spent some time in the real world of kids and figured out that I was wrong. Possibly there were some differences between boys and girls. From time to time, I'm going to share some of my experiences that led me to this conclusion. However, so as to not bias you, I'm going to let you guess, who are the boys in the stories and who are the girls. 
Today's Story
 
Wally was in fifth grade and turning 11 years old. He had a pool party for his birthday at the local YMCA with both boys and girls. After an hour of swimming, the kids had pizza and soda. However, it took forever before the refreshments could be served. We were kept waiting by one group who were in the bathroom changing and making themselves presentable. Some of the other group changed out of their wet clothes, but many did not. When they finally sat down to eat, all of the boys sat at one end of the table and all of the girls sat at the other end. One group saw how much pizza they could get into their mouths at once and laughed as they punched each other. The other group talked about who they were “dating.”

You decide. Which were the boys and which were the girls?
________________________________________________________________________________

In case you had any doubts: The boys were the wet punchers and the girls were the well coiffed ones. It may have been peer pressure, but there was no mixing between the two. I found it very interesting that some of the boys that the girls talked about that they were dating were some of the boys that were at the party. However, the boys were clueless that they were dating anyone.


Wednesday, May 29, 2013

A Second Look--May 29, 2013

The Second Look this week yielded a few new flowers and lots of baby watching. The baby bluebirds have fledged but we have seen both mom and dad on top of the box feeding them. Also, we have seen a female cardinal feeding what appeared to be a young house finch. I'm not sure if that is common, but I don't think it is. I also saw a young bunny doing just what its mother told it to--holding very still. The bunny did not move even a whisker until I was practically on top of it. The kits from next door are out and about exploring in the neighborhood with their mother. However, the youngest babies we have seen are the freshly hatched sparrow eggs. Three hatched on Saturday and the other two hatched on Monday.

Here's what I found this week during a Second Look.

Rozanne geranium



A bluejay must have flown by.



Gerber Daisies--a gift from my buddy, Sarah.



Even though doves are very common, this is the first one we have seen at our feeder.




Not sure what this is, but it is a bulb that comes back every year.



The quiet young bunny.


A new color of iris blooming.



Unfortunately, this starling has started to visit the feeder. It can make a suet cake disappear overnight.



Although the Siberian Iris have faded in some beds, they are going strong in others.



Cardinal feeding the young finch.


Newborn sparrows. Notice on the left there are still two unhatched eggs. On the right, the eggs are gone and there are now five babies instead of three.


Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Leave It to Beaver--our aliases


Live and Learn-Toss and Turn: The beginning.
It's been two years since I started to blog. Most of you (all of you) were not with me in the beginning, so I'm going to go back and look at a few things from then. Today I'm talking about our blog names. 
_______________________________________________________________________________

Leave it to Beaver or the Family We're Based On

You may have noticed that my family has the names of Ward, June, Wally, and Theodore. Some of you may have thought that those were our real names. However, some of you may have realized that those are our aliases based on names from the TV show,  Leave It to Beaver. Leave It to Beaver was a situation comedy that aired from 1957 to 1963 and is still in reruns today. 






https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leave_It_to_Beaver
The show revolved around the Cleaver Family--Ward and June, the parents, and Wally and Theodore, (also known as the Beaver), their sons. The premise of the show was that Beaver and Wally got themselves into scrapes that frustrated their parents but from which ultimately everyone learned a lesson.

When I chose these aliases for my blog world, I didn't think much about the significance except there were the right number and gender in the Cleaver family, and they were from a show that made me smile when I thought about it.

In this post I had planned to talk about the details of the Cleaver family and compare and contrast them with my family. However that's too much work, so I'm just going to tell you a couple of things I found interesting about the making of the show that resonates with me.

--The makers of the show wanted to get gentle laughs. If anything got a really big laugh, they changed the script to make it more of a chuckle or smile. While I love a good belly laugh, the gentle laugh fits with my basic philosophy of life: Everything in moderation.

--June often wore pearls and heels when she was cooking and cleaning around the house. This is often made fun of because it was so unrealistic. However once I heard an interview with the actress that played June, and she explained why those wardrobe choices were made. Apparently the hollow at the bottom of her neck looked strange on film, so they had her wear pearls to fix the problem. Also, as the actors grew that played Wally and Beaver, they wanted her to be taller than them to still look authoritative as a parent. Thus, they had her put on heels. While you'll never find me cooking and cleaning in either pearls or heals, this reminds me that snap judgments are often wrong. Many times you just don't know all of the facts.

--Leave it to Beaver was the first TV show in which the kids were the main focus and not the parents. I don't have anything meaningful to say about this except that I find it interesting.

Another time, I may go into individual episodes, but for now, you know where our blog names came from.

But Wait There's More:
 If you read here very often and you've been paying attention, you may have noticed that several other major and minor Leave It to Beaver characters show up in my posts.

Monday, May 27, 2013

Memorial Day--Leo's Story

Today is Memorial Day in the US--the day we remember the men and women who died while serving their country in the armed services. There are many different stories about these people and I'm going to tell one of them here about Ward's grandfather, Leo.

Leo, 1941
Leo was the son of Polish immigrants and as a young man joined the army is 1929. He became part of the Army Engineer division. Later at a dance, he met a smart and pretty young girl, LeeAnn, and married her in 1932. They soon added a baby boy to the family and two years later they had another. After renting a small home, Leo built a house for his growing family. Being an enterprising young man, he used discarded lumber from a railroad yard for much of the house. (By the way, the house that he built still stands firm today.)

Leo's and LeeAnn's happy life was not affected much when World War II broke out in Europe in 1939. However, the Army started to send units to Iceland to build defensive fortifications to be ready just in case. At the end of 1941, his unit was assigned to go to Iceland to help in these preparations. While they were in New York waiting for their boat, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. The US immediately declared war against Japan and her allies, including Germany. The US was officially in World War II.

Leo and his unit continued with their orders to go to Iceland, but they didn't make it. Their boat was attacked in the Atlantic by a German submarine and had to be repaired before it could go any further. During the month that the repairs took, the soldiers got to go back and spend time with their families. No one knew that this would be the last time they would see each other.

Their boat was repaired, and they were finally on their way. They made it to Iceland and completed their work. However, on the way back to the states, the boat was attacked by another German submarine and this time it sank. The seas were rough which made it difficult for many to survive. Most went down with the ship. First Leo was declared missing at sea and later he was declared killed in action. It wasn't until several years later that his family knew the details of what happened because much of the information was classified.

LeeAnn was suddenly left with two young boys to raise on her own. A few months later, the unthinkable happened and her younger son was killed in an accident. Despite the terrible losses, she kept going. With various jobs, hard work, and the help of family she carved out a good life for her and her son (Ward's father).

When I met LeeAnn, these events had happened over 40 years ago, but it was like they had happened yesterday for her. She talked about the surprise that Leo was going to bring her when he got home from Iceland and still wondered what it was going to be. She showed me some of the subflooring that Leo built where you could read writing from the railroad cars. She talked about how long it took for them to declare Leo dead and how that affected her benefits. But mostly she talked about the surprise her husband was going to bring her. She thought that it was going to be something to do with their tenth wedding anniversary that they were going to celebrate when he came home.

On this day and everyday, we remember Leo and the sacrifice he made for his country. We also want to remember all of the other men and women who have died in service and hope that their stories have been told. But most importantly, we want to thank each and everyone of them and their families. Because of their sacrifices, we can live a good life today.



Sunday, May 26, 2013

Thankful Sunday...

I am thankful for this "Kind Hearted Woman" sign.



The story goes that hobos had a code of pictures to communicate with each other about what they found during their travels. A smiling cat, like the one above, denoted a kind hearted woman that might give you a bite to eat or a place to sleep for a night or two. I had never heard of this until a dear friend gave me this plaque many years ago. It was a great compliment. That dear friend is no longer with us, but this sign reminds me of her often. I am thankful for the memories this sign brings.


Friday, May 24, 2013

Food Waste Friday and True Food Confessions--May 23, 2013

It's time for Food Waste Friday, when the Frugalgirl encourages us to post pictures from the previous week of wasted food from our household. This accountability hopefully will help us to be more careful with our food and maybe save some money. Also, I am using this public forum to encourage us to eat out less which includes better meal planning. You can follow how we are doing in this endeavor by reading True Food Confessions.

This Week's Food Waste
Two teaspoons of mustard.
Two tablespoons of pasta salad.
(no pictures)

If you want to know the details, ask Theo and Wally respectively. I know this isn't much, but I included these to keep things honest, and I told my kids that I would. As much as they pretend that they don't care about our food waste, they really do.



This Week's True Food Confessions


Some delicious food we had this week.
Some nights just conspire against cooking at home. Tonight was one of those nights. Long about the time I ambled into the kitchen to fix some chicken for supper, the thunder started to rumble as the lightning began to flash. Soon torrential rains began. I waited for the storm to pass since it wasn't safe to be around the sink and stove. As I was waiting, I headed to the basement to the feed the cats. For once they weren't interested in their food. They were more interested in watching the water come in under the walls. In other words, the basement was flooding. Not bad like inches of water, but bad enough that every towel in the house is soaked and we're waiting for more to dry to be used again. In the meantime, Ward brought home Subway sandwiches. A wise decision.

The rest of the week was a mixed bag. The weekend involved fast food and pizza from Aldi's (huge, good pizza for 5 bucks.) The week involved easy, but tasty dishes with enough for leftovers. But by far, the favorite meal of the week was the baked pork chops we had. Last time we had pork chops, we cooked them on top of the stove and they were tough. This weekend, we baked the rest from that package and they turned out very well--flavorful and tender. I used a recipe from allrecipes.com. The pork chops were breaded, browned in a skillet then baked for a time before a gravy from creamed soup was added. Then they were baked some more. We served them with mashed potatoes and we had a true comfort food meal if there ever was one. Everyone was very happy.

I have reprinted the recipe below. I used two cans of soup instead of one because we wanted more gravy. I didn't have any white wine, so I used all milk. Also, I cooked the chops in the oven for 30 minutes before adding the gravy and then 40 more. They were nicely done in this amount of time. (We were using 1"thick pork chops.)

Until next time...
Baked Pork Chops 1
Ingredients:
6 pork chops
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon seasoning salt
2 egg, beaten
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups Italian-style seasoned bread
crumbs
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream
of mushroom soup
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup white wine
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Rinse pork chops, pat dry, and season with garlic powder and seasoning salt to taste. Place the beaten eggs in a small bowl. Dredge the pork chops lightly in flour, dip in the egg, and coat liberally with bread crumbs.
3. Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Fry the pork chops 5 minutes per side, or until the breading appears well browned. Transfer the chops to a 9x13 inch baking dish, and cover with foil.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour. While baking, combine the cream of mushroom soup, milk and white wine in a medium bowl. After the pork chops have baked for an hour, cover them with the soup mixture. Replace foil, and bake for another 30 minutes.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2013 Allrecipes.com Printed from Allrecipes.com 5/23/2013
 

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Today...


Today I am going to think about the things outside of me that are gradually affecting my life.


This is part of Wally and Theodore's tree house that Ward built years ago. As you can see, the tree is slowly growing around one of the supports and has pushed a floor board up. I need to think about whether or not I have a "tree" slowly changing me. Am I letting outside forces determine where I'm going and where I'm going to end up? I'm not sure, but I do know if I don't think about it, they very well might.



Wednesday, May 22, 2013

A Second Look--May 22, 2013

Here's what I found this week during a Second Look.


Siberian Iris



Bearded iris have joined the Siberian iris that started to bloom last week.



Cranesbill




Star of Bethleham


 

Purple sage




Rhododendron




The sparrow's nest now has eggs in it.



The bluebird babies have finally grown into their eyes. They are eleven days older in the second picture. Notice the little blue tail feather in the back.


Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Help ideas for tornado victims

 Sometimes bad, unimaginable things happen to good people. If you want to help the people of Oklahoma that this happened to this week, here are some links for things you can do. (This information is taken straight from an NBC news site. I just took out the ads.)
_______________________________________________________________________________

How to help Oklahoma tornado victims

By Suzanne Choney, Contributing Writer, NBC News,
Ben Popken and Devin Coldewey also contributed to this report.

The loss of life and stunning devastation in Oklahoma City suburbs after a monster tornado ripped through the area are heart-wrenching. "The streets are just gone. The signs are just gone," said Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, after she toured the area by helicopter Tuesday. And many, many relief organizations are getting the message out on how to help.

American Red Cross
The Red Cross has set up shelters in various communities. You can donate to the Red Cross Disaster Relief fund here, and the organization also suggests giving blood at your local hospital or blood bank. Fundraising efforts were buoyed Tuesday by a $1 million pledge from Kevin Durant, of the Oklahoma City Thunder basketball team, via his family foundation.

If you're searching for a missing relative, check Red Cross Safe & Well's site. And please register if you're within the disaster region. The site is designed to make communication easier after a tragedy like this.

If you want to send a $10 donation to the Disaster Relief fund via text message, you can do so by texting the word REDCROSS to 90999. As in the case with other donations via mobile, the donation will show up on your wireless bill, or be deducted from your balance if you have a prepaid phone. You need to be 18 or older, or have parental permission, to donate this way. (If you change your mind, text the word STOP to 90999.)

The Red Cross also accepts frequent flier miles as donations. Delta, United Airlines and US Airways partner with the Red Cross throughout the year, which uses miles to help get volunteers and staff to key locations during disasters. (Note: The donation is not tax-deductible as the IRS considers it a gift.) For Delta, email: delta.bids@delta-air.com with your SkyMiles number, the number of miles you want to donate, and specify the Red Cross as the charity. You can donate miles online at United Airlines Donate Your Miles and US Airways Dividend Miles.

Phone: 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767); for Spanish speakers, 1-800-257-7575; for TDD, 1-800-220-4095.

OK Strong Disaster Relief Fund
The state of Oklahoma, coordinating with the United Way of Central Oklahoma, on Tuesday established the OK Strong Disaster Relief Fund to help "with the long-term medical, emotional and educational needs of victims of the May 20 tornado in Moore and the May 19 tornado near Shawnee."
Donations can be made online at UnitedWayOKC.org.
Phone: 1-405-236-8441.

Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma
The Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, working with the Oklahoma Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, is seeking monetary donations. To donate, visit the regional food bank's website, or give $10 by texting the word FOOD to 32333.
Phone: 1-405-972-1111

Oklahoma Baptist Disaster Relief
This organization says donations will "go straight to help those in need providing tree removal services, laundry services and meals to victims of disasters."
It is requesting monetary donations (It says clothing is NOT needed). For more information, and to donate, visit Oklahoma Baptist Disaster Relief's website.
You can send checks to: BGCO, Attn: Disaster Relief, 3800 N. May Ave., Oklahoma City, OK., 73112.

Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is organizing disaster response units to serve hard-hit areas in central Oklahoma, including Moore, where it is sending mobile kitchens that can serve meals to 2,500 people a day, and to South Oklahoma City.
 
In Little Axe, Okla., the organization said, the army's Central Oklahoma Area Command Disaster Service Unit was busy feeding breakfast, lunch and dinner to people, "even as one of our Salvation Army family member's home was destroyed."
Supporters can donate online via the organization's website, SalvationArmyUSA.org. You can also text the word STORM to 80888 to make a $10 donation via cellphone.
If you want to send a check, the Salvation Army asks that you put the words "Oklahoma Tornado Relief" on the check, and mail it to: The Salvation Army, P.O. Box 12600, Oklahoma City, OK., 73157.
Phone:  1-800-SAL-ARMY (1-800-725-2769).

Feed the Children
Feed the Children has set up five locations in Oklahoma City to accept donations to help victims of the Moore tornado. The organization is accepting items including diapers, canned goods, non-perishable food, snack items, water and sports drinks. The organization is also supporting mobile canteens in partnership with the Salvation Army and the Red Cross.
You can donate online, or make a $10 donation by texting the word DISASTER to 80888.
Phone:  1-800-627-4556

United Way of Central Oklahoma
 A disaster relief fund is being activated as of May 21 so that individuals can specifically donate to tornado relief-and-recovery efforts, the organization says on its site.
"Financial contributions are the best way to help unless otherwise requested." Donations can be made online at United Way of Central Oklahoma’s Disaster Relief Fund is open.  Donations may be made online here. Checks, with a notation of "May Tornado Relief" can also be sent to the United Way of Central Oklahoma, P.O. Box 837, Oklahoma City, OK , 73101.

Feeding America
Through its network of more than 200 food banks, Feeding America, whose mission is to "feed America's hungry through a nationwide network of member food banks," says it will deliver truckloads of food, water and supplies to communities in need, in Oklahoma, and will also "set up additional emergency food and supply distribution sites as they are needed." You can donate online here.
Phone: 1-800-910-5524.

Operation USA
The international relief group, based in Los Angeles, says it is "readying essential material aid — emergency, shelter and cleaning supplies" to help Oklahoma's community health organizations and schools recover.
You can donate online here. You can also give a $10 donation by texting the word AID to 50555. Checks should be sent to: Operation USA, 7421 Beverly Blvd., PH, Los Angeles, CA 90036
Phone: 1-800-678-7255.

Convoy of Hope
The Missouri-based nonprofit organization has done work in other disasters, including the Haiti earthquake, with a mission of getting food and water to those after disaster strikes. Now it's doing the same for Moore, Okla. You can donate online here. Convoy of Hope is also going the crowd-sourced route, using HopeMob, a site similar to Kickstarter but for raising money to help disaster victims and others in need, which charges no fees to the organizations that use it. Convoy of Hope's goal on the site is to raise $15,000 in seven days to help Moore.
"Why 7 days? In these first 7 days the town of Moore, OK will be consumed with clearing out destruction and accessing their needs," HopeMob says on its site. "Once those needs are known we want to be able to give them the funds to help them rebuild in the long term."
As of Tuesday, nearly $9,500 was raised.
Phone: 1-800-988-0664
Direct Relief

Direct Relief
The Santa Barbara, Calif.-based, non-profit organization provides medical assistance and personal hygiene items to those hurt in disasters, as well as in other circumstances.
"So far we have heard from health center partners responding in Oklahoma and are preparing an emergency shipment to help support the efforts there.  Direct Relief has been receiving requests for emergency supplies, personal care and protection items — including hygiene supplies, infection control products, gloves, soap, shampoo, deodorant, sanitary napkins, diapers, wipes and formula," said Kerri Murray, Direct Relief vice president, in an email.
To donate, visit DirectRelief.org.
Phone: 1-800-676-1638

AmeriCares
The Emergency Response team for AmeriCares is in Oklahoma, "coordinating deliveries of emergency aid and assessing the needs of survivors and health care organizations in the disaster area."
Since 1982, the Connecticut-based nonprofit has delivered medicine, medical supplies and aid to those in need around the world and across the United States.
You can donate online here. You can also give a $10 donation by texting the word LIVE to 25383. Checks or money orders can be mailed to: AmeriCares, 88 Hamilton Ave., Stamford, CT 06902.
Phone:  1-800-486-HELP (1-800-486-4357)

Operation Blessing International
Humanitarian organization Operation Blessing International, which last week coordinated more than 500 volunteers in Granbury, Texas, after that area was hit by a tornado, is working with The Home Depot and dispatching a construction unit, mobile command center, trucks with tools and supplies and a team of construction foremen to Moore.
Late Monday, Operation Blessing International also "loaded and deployed two tractor-trailer truckloads of food and emergency relief supplies from its warehouse in Dallas, Texas, in partnership with the humanitarian organization, Mercury One," said a Operation Blessing spokeswoman.
The Virginia Beach-based group's online link for donations is here.
Phone:  1-800-730-2537

Samaritan's Purse
The international Christian relief organization focuses on cleaning and repairing damaged homes and sent two disaster relief units from North Wilkesboro, N.C. to Oklahoma Tuesday. "The tractor-trailers are stocked with heavy-duty plastic, chainsaws, generators, and other tools and equipment. The units also will serve as command centers for the response," Samaritan's Purse says on its website.
You can donate online here. You can also give a $10 donation by texting the word SP to 80888.
Phone:  1-800-528-1980

Jewish Federations of North America
The Jewish Federations of North America is working with the Jewish Federation of Greater Oklahoma, which is coordinating efforts with a local food bank, Habitat for Humanity and the Red Cross. The Jewish Federations of North America has established an Oklahoma City Tornado Relief fund. Donors can contribute online here.
Checks can also be sent to the JFNA national mailbox at: The Jewish Federations of North America, Wall Street Station, P.O. Box 148, New York, NY, 10268. Please indicate "JFNA Oklahoma City Tornado Relief Fund" on all checks or in the designation box online.
DonorsChoose.orgDonorsChoose.org is creating a special online fund to collect donations for the teachers and schools of Moore, Okla., to help respond and rebuild. Donors Choose will work with the teachers of Moore to assess what they need for their classrooms and allow them to identify the real-time solutions and supplies their community and their students need: everything from clothing for their students to first-aid kits.
To donate, visit www.donorschoose.org

And a note of caution ...
Emotions are running high, understandably, in light of the awful news from Oklahoma. Many of us want to help in some way. But this vulnerable time is also rife with and ripe for scammers who want to prey on your emotions and wallet. They may seek you out via email, knock on your door, or even try to get you to give money via Facebook.
The Federal Trade Commission has guidelines about charity donations, including these tips:
  • Donate to charities you know and trust. Be alert for charities that seem to have sprung up overnight in connection with current events, like the tornadoes.
  • Ask if a caller is a paid fundraiser, who they work for, and what percentage of your donation goes to the charity and to the fundraiser. If you don’t get a clear answer — or if you don’t like the answer you get — consider donating to a different organization.
  • Don’t give out personal or financial information — including your credit card or bank account number — unless you know the charity is reputable.
  • Never send cash: you can’t be sure the organization will receive your donation, and you won’t have a record for tax purposes.
  • Check out the charity with the Better Business Bureau’s (BBB) Wise Giving Alliance, Charity Navigator, Charity Watch, or GuideStar.
  • Find out if the charity or fundraiser must be registered in your state by contacting the National Association of State Charity Officials.


Monday, May 20, 2013

"Zero"--a book review

This month's selection for my book club was Zero-the Biography of a Dangerous Idea by Charles Seife. This is a nonfiction book that discusses the history of numbers and their place in society focusing on the ever important concept of zero and its partner infinity. Now if you're not a math person, don't stop reading yet. Seife has masters degrees in math and journalism and takes a seemingly dry subject and makes it a very interesting read. He starts in the beginning with the use of numbers to count things and goes to present day with string theory and such. 

First let me tell you what background knowledge I brought to the book, so you can put my perceptions in context. I had the basic science and math courses in college of physics, chemistry, and calculus. I didn't have any advanced courses in these areas. However, I am married to someone who reads math and physics books for fun, so if you can learn anything by osmosis, I should know a lot. I found the book an interesting read for several reasons.

I had never thought about the evolution of numbers and their use. I guess I just assumed that all of them had always been there, including zero. However, that was naive. They have evolved over time just as our scientific ideas have often hand in hand--which makes perfect sense if I'd ever taken time to think about it. Also, I had never thought about the beautiful or sinister (depending on your point of view) concepts of zero and infinity in a religious sense. There have been a lot of differing ideas of whether God created things from something or from nothing and whether there is a beginning and ending to the universe. Many men and societies survived or didn't depending on their views on this subject and what was politically correct at the time. Also, the book reads like a who's who of the big players throughout time in the science and math world. However, Seife does more than discuss their math contributions. He tells about the life they were living and how their work affected their life. It is very much a history book in all of these ways.

Zero is also a math book. As Seife describes each new concept as it was discovered, he gives very understandable examples of that concept in every day terms. He seems to have a real gift for this and I think his examples could be used in the classroom to make things clear and relevant to students.

Now after all of that praise, let me tell you the rest of the story. The book can be a quick and easy read. At least that was how it was for the math professor in our group. However, I found it a fast read if I didn't try to completely understand the examples or a tedious read when I was trying to understand them--especially toward the end when they were getting more complex.

What did the others think about Zero? Some commented that there may have been other sides to the story, especially in the religious context, than were presented by Seife. However, most of the other comments were favorable. They thought it was well written and the subject matter interesting. Out in the rest of the world, it has won awards and has gotten favorable reviews from most of the major newspapers.

Would I recommend the book? Yes, but I wouldn't call it a beach-read type book for the average person. I plan to read it again and savor all of the fascinating information it has to offer. (Especially when I have trouble sleeping.)
___________________________________________________________________________________

But wait, there's more:
In the latter parts of the book, it talks about many things that I have heard referenced on The Big Bang Theory. I now understand better what Sheldon and Leonard are often talking about.

But wait, there's even more:
If you want to know more details about the book, read here.


Sunday, May 19, 2013

Thankful Sunday--May 19, 2013

I am thankful for my library card.



Today I checked out a mystery by Martha Grimes from the library to join all of the travel books I have on New Mexico. I just returned two books on CD and a magazine, and last week I returned a movie I didn't have time to watch--but that's not a problem, I can check it out again. I have discovered new music that I like and new music that I didn't like from the library. Also I have been to gardening programs, craft programs, history programs, and book club programs at my library. And someday when I get an E reader, I will check out books for it from the library.

I have been using the library since I was a very little girl and although my card has changed over time, I have always been thankful for it.



Friday, May 17, 2013

Food Waste Friday and True Food Confessions--May 17, 2013

It's time for Food Waste Friday, when the Frugalgirl encourages us to post pictures from the previous week of wasted food from our household. This accountability hopefully will help us to be more careful with our food and maybe save some money. Also, I am using this public forum to encourage us to eat out less which includes better meal planning. You can follow how we are doing in this endeavor by reading True Food Confessions.

This Week's Food Waste

Food Waste=None


This Week's True Food Confessions

A few things we had to eat this week. We were lucky to have fresh asparagus and greens from Uncle Billy's garden.

I started to write my regular Friday post and got a little bored with it. It was much like last week's so you can read that if you want to get a feel for it. In the meantime, I'm going to talk about something that has interested me for a while--what you call the meals you eat every day.

Breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper
These are the four common names that are used for the meals of the day in most English speaking countries. Dinner came from a old French word that meant to break the fast of overnight and was usually used for the main meal of the day--one at noon in a two meal system. Over the years the main meal has changed from the first one of the day to the last one of the day and use of the word dinner has followed that change. When I was growing up, we had breakfast, dinner, and supper in that order. Calling dinner the evening meal was something that I only read about in books. I think this usage reflected that I grew up in a rural farming community. However, as I made my way out into the world, I gradually adopted the naming that I had read about. I eat breakfast when I first get up in the morning. I eat lunch in the middle of the day, and I have dinner during the early evening. (Although sometimes I still have supper then. It just depends if I am channeling my roots that day.)

What do you call the meals you eat every day? Has it changed over time?



Thursday, May 16, 2013

A Second Look--Birds, May 16, 2013

I love to watch birds. Not in a bird watcher kind of way like someone who has a life list of birds they've seen and hope to see. Also, not like a friend who knows every bird that comes to her feeder and gives each one of  them names according to their looks and actions. I'm not quite as serious as either one of those kind of watchers. But I love to watch birds all the same.

I know that birds have struggles like every other living thing, but to me they look joyful as they flit about. They look happy as they are looking for grubs, and they look satisfied while they are building their nests. Watching birds that have these apparent attitudes is one of the reasons I love to watch them.

My bird watching began two years ago when Ward got a bird feeder for his birthday. For the first year, most of our bird watching was really squirrel watching as we tried to keep the squirrels from eating the bird food. When that problem was solved, our bird watching began in earnest. We called excitedly to each other when we saw a bird on the feeder, and then called Aunt Martha, our bird expert, to help us identify it. 

As time went on, we learned to identify more birds by ourselves and I started taking pictures of them to share with you during my Second Looks. I'm not sure if you are aware of my bird picture taking methods, but I am shooting through my dirty kitchen windows. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. And many times the bird has moved on before I can get the camera in place. But I do it all the same. The birds have been particularly active the last few weeks as they find mates, build nests, and raise babies.  Below are pictures of some of this activity in my backyard. Many of the pictures are not of great quality (remember the dirty kitchen window thing) but I'm sharing them because they tell my story. I love bird watching.


Bluebird scoping area for nest site. It chose this box.




Inside the above box, five eggs were laid and recently hatched. It's hard to tell much about the baby birds since they are all in a big pile, but if you look carefully you can see in the last picture they are starting to develop feathers.



Bluebirds did not get to use this box because it is being used by a house sparrow. House sparrows are aggressive about nesting areas and some people remove their nest when they see it being built so the bluebirds will have a chance. I just couldn't do that. The birds have been building the nest for over a month and it has no eggs yet. The latest building material was blue jay feathers.



This is one of a pair of sparrows that has been building the above nest.


This is a house sparrow's egg shell that Ward found buried under the sparrow nesting box. A coincidence, yes. But an interesting one since that box is new to that location this year. I'm not sure where the egg came from.



Woodpeckers. We have also seen hairy and pileated woodpeckers at the feeder, but not recently.



Our woodpecker tree with a new hole for this year. I don't know if any of the above woodpeckers made it.



Cardinals. I have seen a lot of cardinal activity recently including dueling males fighting for mating rights. Sometimes the male and female show up to the feeder together and sometimes they don't.


These two house finches were eating dandelions together. The one on the left looks like a fledgling female. Notice the downy feathers on top of its head. The other one with the red head is a male.


Another finch. A gold finch.



Cat bird. This a new one for me and Aunt Martha promptly got a call.


Robin, Blue Jay, and Carolina Wren



I guess that's enough for now. And now for the disclaimer. I identified these birds to the best of my ability, but who knows if I got them all right.



Wednesday, May 15, 2013

A Second Look

This is the first week in several that it has not been raining during my Second Look .  I found this a nice change of pace. Blooms are continuing with something new blooming every day. Also, we found a not-so-pretty cicada still in its shell while we were planting some new bushes. The cicada invasion has begun in some places, but we don't expect them until later in the month. I can wait.

Here is what I found this week during a Second Look.

Rhododendron




Star of Bethlehem




Azalea




Baby peaches




Azalea




Siberian Iris




Lily of the valley




Bleeding heart and azalea




Cicada cocoon