http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/text/civ/1791manufactures.html

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/HNS/Yoeman/qxix.html

These texts, as your syllabus indicates, in addition to chapter 8 of the Norton.

Good luck.

I have always tried to keep a clean house, picked up, things in their places, and smelling nice. Because I am so ill right now I don't get to clean often. My poor husband has been picking up a lot lately. I feel bad cause I know the mess stresses him out and he works and goes to school full time, so his spare time is precious. Anyway, I wish I could clean more.

Well tonight Nate was shooting a video with a guy from church and his sister. After they were done shooting footage for the video they came back here to finish stuff up. Of course my husband was respectful of me and asked if I minded if they came in and used the back room to finish up. It's not that I minded them coming over....it's that I minded how I looked and how my house looked. But I was forced to let people see me and all my imperfections. I was forced to let people see how me being sick affects my life.

Most of you know how hard I try to carry on life as normal and not let people really see what happens when I am this ill. Well, tonight I had to let all that go and let these two people, who I know, but don't really *know* into my home and see me for me, and all that is happening right now. Of course they were super sweet after I kept apologizing about my house and they kept telling me it's okay and how they are praying for me and really hope I can make it to church on Sunday. Anyway, all this to say that it was a humbling experience to not be able to have perfection in front of people that I would normal be aiming to please so much.

It makes me think about God's relationship with us. See, we can come before God with all of our imperfections. We don't have to be perfect to come to God. He loves us with all the imperfections, all the ugliness and all the sin in our lives. God just wants us to be his children. He wants us the way we are and he will start doing a good work to make us better people. I think tonight was a reminder from God to me of his love for me. I needed that tonight. Thank you Jesus. Sometimes it's those God-Wink moments.

Wednesday: First three chapters of Nervous Conditions

Friday: Chapters 4 and 5 of Nervous Conditions

Wednesday: Ch. 4

Friday: Ch. 5

For those interested in following up on our screening of the Homestead Strike documntary:

http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/strikes.html

http://www.battleofhomesteadfoundation.org/battle.php

Geriatric Care

Elder Home Care

Senior Caregivers

That is the number of hits I have received since installing my stat counter and sitemeter.  It is also the number of miles I have officially driven our Ford Escape Hybrid.

Yay!

ETA:  Someone had to go and steal my thunder!  Congrats on the milestone of sorts, my Phriend!

Sorry for the lack of updates this morning, folks, but this video pretty much sums up how we feel today. Check back later for the regular junk and for an announcement about where we'll be guest blogging next week.

Until then, we've got plates to spin.

Health Minister Liow Tiong Lai told Bernama that 'damage to the system's temperature control unit had led to high moisturization that caused fungus to grow'.

He complained: 'That is why I have always stressed that maintenance is very important. If there is no proper maintenance these things will happen. When the fungus attack becomes too big it gets out of control. So we have to change the whole system.'

The Minister dismissed the possibility of a flaw in the design of the polyclinic as being the cause. But will negligence go unpunished?

This polyclinic case is similar to that of the Sultan Ismail Hospital in Johor Baharu in September 2004 that caused the RM557.8 million hospital to be closed temporarily.

Another big chunk of taxpayers' money being dumped into the drain, and another mistake of the past sadly repeated.

I am a terrible housekeeper. I always have been. I just never got the proper training of how to do it and keep up with it. Some methods work and others don't, and nobody showed me what worked, so I kept on doing what didn't. It's a terrible situation, and the house got to be a huge mess that needed to be cleaned -- badly.

I don't want to ask DH to do it because he has enough on his plate without having to worry about the housekeeping. Besides, I think I'm actually more efficient than he is. I've been observing the way a friend of mine handles her house, and stopped over at flylady.net for some information, and pitched right in over the last three days. I almost have the living room clean, and the bathroom just needs to be mopped right now (or every day for that matter!).

I'm very proud of myself. It was a lot of work, but I'm managing. Things are being put in their proper place, and the room is becoming organized. I'm hoping that tonight DH will hang our pictures on the wall in that room and further reduce the clutter (pictures waiting to be hung). I'm looking forward to having it done so that I can move on to the dining room/office!

I am Chris Hand, atelier leader, and I'm pleased to welcome the students taking part this year -- Leighn Chambers, Ross Coffield, Angus Edwardson, Gavin Henderson, Lauren Plews, Michael Ross and Scott Tweeddale.  We will be working together on both research dissertations and on the final-year major project.

One of the first things to do is to register on wordpress, so that you can post to this blog and make comments.  As part of the signing-up process you can also get your own free wordpress blog, which you might useful to keep track of your research material, rather than posting random stuff here.  It would also be a useful place to write ideas and chunks of text, in a form which allows us to comment on it and make suggestions.

Please register with your napier email address, and a username that will make it easy for us to identify who's who (like, err, your name). Once you've registered, email me and I can add you as a contributing user of this blog.

I thought I’d go tad bored staying home and not working for couple weeks or months. But to tell you honestly, I haven’t. It's so much fun organizing our home. From the garage all the way to the backyard. I just so love doing it.

Being a housewife isn't a simple role to portray. I believe that it is one of the most tiring jobs, ever - Most especially with kids around. I am not pregnant yet... We're trying...
hoping.... praying.

Ok.... back to cleaning!

The command center's primary feature is a simple 16" x 22" monthly calendar.  My husband's monthly 8" x 11"  call-schedule sits next to the calendar.  I have a 3" x 5" card posted with the family's weekly piano lessons, computer classes and tennis schedules. My husband also posts daily his  O.R  schedule.  Important notes can be found along with business cards of places that we love (like the golf club-house and the speech therapist).

The command center allows our family (particularly Dad)  to  be aware of the in's and out's of everyone's lives. It answers the question- "Who's doing what when and where" (no one actually ever knows why!).

I also keep track of school attendance on this calendar.  I am well aware of my children's attendance. However the state of Indiana likes attendance records and this is my simple method of complying.

I even record my dining room table's tung oil applications here. Some people can keep track of things like this in their own heads. Not me - I have to write EVERYTHING down. Oh well; it's O.K. since I have my handy, dandy command center.

It was extremely easy to fashion my command center. I went to my local Hobby Lobby. I picked out a lovely frame and cork board.  I visited with the frame department and explained my desire to frame the cork. They listened attentively, suggested a backing and  voila!  30 minutes later I was checking out with my command center.  I ordered a 16" x 22" very simple calendar from Day Timer. It provides large squares for each day so that I can scribble enormous amounts of information if necessary.  Each month, I cut out the appropriate page from the calendar and post it. Of course, I always save the previous month's calendar. 

The only changes that I would make to a future command center would be:

• Larger frame, if wall-space permits, to allow 2 months to be posted at one time
• Thicker cork - I doubled the cork that I purchased, but I think a thicker cork would work nicely

This is what works for me. To read other tips, visit Rocks in My Dryer's  Works for Me Wednesday.

"Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity . . . ." -Ephesians 5:15-16a

Evidently this term now applies to squatters or members of the back-to-the-land movement. Although we generally like doing things from scratch, and we aim for simple living, I can't really call ours a lifestyle of agrarian self-sufficiency. Neither are we on a squat-to-own plan.

I was going more for "homesteading" a la Little House of the Prairie. You know, staking your claim on a place by finding it and staying there and working hard to make it great.  Of course, we actually bought our house and land, but we're also having to do those other things. Our place hasn't earned its nickname, The Project, for nothing. We have fewer than 850 livable square feet of space that currently features wires hanging from the ceiling, holes and cracks in walls, leaks in the roof and zero closets.

We bought The Project three years ago and moved in last September. Some days we look around and marvel at all we've done: patched and refinished the floors, taken out whole walls, rewired, replumbed, painted, put up drywall, HAD A BABY. But at other times, when the clothes and dishes are piled high, or the rain outside is dripping into a bucket inside, or it becomes frustratingly clear that the most steps we can take away from each other and remain in the house are in the single digits, we wonder what we were thinking.

I like to believe that the more you invest in something, the more you'll appreciate it.  I cling to this theory with particular desperation when visiting the "starter homes" that fellow twenty-somethings have moved into (by the way, am I the only one who thinks first home and starter home are not necessarily synonymous?). I'm happy for our friends who made a smooth transition from their grad-school apartments to custom cabinetry and too much space, really I am. And before I get carried away wondering what their eventual upgrade will look like (Buckingham Palace, anyone?), I have to remind myself that I'm the one who wanted the 16 wooded acres, the "charm" of an old house, the "experience" of hands-on renovation.

Enter our personal Homestead Act, which I'm signing into family law. (D and I maintain our own shortlist of rules, regs and compromises that have become necessary over the course of our young marriage. This one joins the likes of the Separation of Work and Home, a pact allowing no more than 10 minutes of work-talk per person, per night. They're like New Year's resolutions, except that we really mean it.)

Basically, the Homestead Act is our agreement that all of the dirty work, our many investments  (financial, physical, psychological) in The Project, the close quarters, and the [very long] time line are -- or will be, anyway -- for the best and totally worth it.

After all, isn't there something romantic-Americana about this?  Circa Little House on the Prairie, it meant braving the frontier and turning a drafty shanty into a cozy cabin full of quilts. Times have certainly changed, and I won't pretend to be that hardy, though we did survive one winter month with only the fireplace for heat. We're no pioneers, but we've learned to do a lot on our own. And while our friends may be wondering whether it'll become an eventual success or another funny story, I'm hoping for both.

• If you're patient and don't need the pan until tomorrow, douse a thick layer of baking soda all around the pan, then drizzle with just a little bit of water (almost like making it into a paste) and then let the baking soda work it's magic overnight.
• If you need the pan right away, dribble a couple of drops of dishwashing liquid into the pan, add hot water to cover the bottom, then place the pan on the stove over medium heat.  Bring it to a boil and let it "cook" for about 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and try the scrubbing process again.

Good Luck!

For Wednesday we're reading the first chapter of Gail Bederman's Manliness and Civilization. Of particular note is the distinction she makes between masculinity and manliness. Also, pay attention to her remarks on the concept of civilization. 

Friday we'll move onto Chapter Two, which discusses Ida B. Wells's anti-lynching crusade.

I'm amazed I need to say this, but please do not sleep in my class. Or text message. Or listen to music on your ipod. Or snort ketamine. Remember:  because we are here others are not. Other people who would like to be here are flipping burgers, folding sweaters at The Gap, fueling F-15s, or cleaning toilets. 

Finally, the name of the documentary we screened in class is Unforgivable Blackness. I highly recommend it.

Link the tagger and these rules on your blog.
Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a message on their blog.

So, here are seven facts about me:

1. I have a serious school supply (papers, folders, cards, pens, etc.) addiction.
2. I have had an active nursing licence in 5 states.
3. I have moved 7 times in 15 years within 6 different states.
4. I've done open heart massage.
5. I've been to the Great Pyramids.
6. I love college football, but not NFL.
7. I get motion sick sitting anywhere but the driver's seat. 

Now my tags: Cynthia, Traci, Teresa, Laurie, Angela - that's as close to 7 as I can get....

For a bonus, if you go over to Maricar's you'll see her fantastically organized and clean home.  In the event she thinks she has clutter or dust bunny outbreaks, I'm including some current pictures of my disaster area. Enjoy (and send help!).

Friday was busy busy busy! So much for not "working". I woke up early so that Jorden & I could drive over to Kbay to deliver all of the Pampered Chef goods and visit. It made me sad! I miss it so much there!

After that we had to make it back to our side of the Island in time to stop by the Cafe before Jorden's appointment. We brought muffins for the Pediatric Staff to say thanks, they've been so helpful making our appointments and getting us in! Jorden is always Mr. Popular with adults anywhere (he's a ham!), so the muffins put us over the top a little bit. He was eating up all the attention from the ladies!

So, after screaming through x-rays and wiggling and fighting it (Now we need to take that guy muffins!)....the doctor said his finger is still broken. We have to keep buddy taping it for another 3 weeks! SHEESH!

Daddy had to go back to work so Momma & Baby decided to go...Shopping! (Where else?!)

Old Navy was (is?) having a sale so we got some new stuff and, then headed to the pet store.

Piggy needs a new cage. 

Piggy does NOT need a cage that costs $150.

We left with nothing!

Saturday was off to the Thrift Stores! One of our friends volunteers at the Pearl Harbor one so he wanted us to stop by and see him and maybe pick up some outdoor toys for Jorden. (They're just gonna get broken anyways!)

Guess what they had - the $150 Piggy cage. For $3! DEAL OF THE YEAR! Can you tell I am super excited about this?

Piggy is much happier in his nice new cage and Momma is happy because he can't kick his bedding out of this one.

Ok, time to wrap this up. If anyone is still listening reading.

Last night was Fight Night. Kimbo Slice is the only person I care to watch and he lost. 

Today was spring cleaning day. (In October?)

Whatever. The point is that we cleaned. The kitchen, the bathrooms, the patio, the cars, the bedrooms. EVERYTHING. 

Man, I'm pooped. Speaking of which...Jorden has been pooping in the toilet for 4 days now. He says "Poop Mommy, POOP!" And runs to the bathroom door. How exciting! Granny is hoping he'll be all trained by the time she comes to visit in December. 

I'm aiming (haha, pun intended!) for his birthday! Wish us luck!

Now that we got to the bottom (pun intended again, haha!) of the weekend, I'm off to make Sunday dinner! Hope everyone's weekend was as good as ours!

Last week, dear readers, you might have noticed my mention of having cleaned the bathroom thoroughly. Well, it was acceptable, and I'm discovering that I'm a perfectionist when it comes to my bathroom and my bedroom. If no other two rooms of my house look decent, those two rooms (which often enough nobody else sees!) must be spotless. How frustrating!

At any rate, I shined the bathroom sink last night (as I said) and that got me started. I was bored later on in the evening waiting for DH to come home from work, so I followed that up by cleaning the toilet and the mirrors, as well as wiping down the other surfaces. It wasn't great, but it was acceptable.

I was going to do more today, but I decided to hit the bathtub as well as I could. Unfortunately I feel as though the paneling is going to want to be replaced because bleach isn't doing anything to get rid of the soap scum. I'm going to try something else (tilex first, then see what else is out there) and see what I can do about it tomorrow. I don't want to mix chemicals though, so I have to make sure it's been used for a couple of showers before I do anything. Should get a good rinse that way!

Tomorrow's project is just the bathroom walls. It doesn't sound like much, but this bathroom really hasn't been cleaned since so long before we moved in here that it's scary. Not the landlord's fault either -- we agreed to do the work, and are just now getting around to it! Hopefully I'll be able to get the mildew stains off the tile! Tuesday I'm hitting up the bathroom floor, and I mean a thorough, hands and knees scrubbing for the bathroom floor. And I'm going to use bleach, because I want it to shine. I'm going to get in all the corners and everything. Then I'm going to really give it a good polish (after a rinse, mind you!).

I'm going on here, and I'm not sure there is a point except to keep writing every day. Sorry about that, readers.

One thing that I did talk to DH about tonight was the accountability issue that I mentioned yesterday. I don't know whether or not he agrees to it because he was glued to the TV at the time. That's something we really need to work on in our relationship, is communication. I never feel like he's paying attention when the TV is on. Anyway... So we talked about it, or rather I talked and he... Listened.

One thing that I mentioned is that I do feel that DD needs to come with it's share of rewards, too. I'm not saying that we, as adult women, are like children, but the fact is that a healthy dose of good things in return for the changes that we make is good.

Now I understand that there are universal rewards: A peaceful home, a sense of well-being, increased self-confidence, etc. But I like to know that DH recognizes what I've done, and it's good to do something for myself that directly relates to the changed behavior.

A long time ago, we talked about doing something for the house for every room that got really done. Well only one room ever got "really" done and nothing came of it, so the idea went out the window. But I brought it up again tonight. I want a new set of nice towels that match the bathroom once the room is done. I think it will look better to have towels on the towel racks, and it will be a nice way to round off the room in general.

I'm not sure about the other rooms, but I'll come up with something. It's all about making a house a home. For me, the more "homey" a house feels, the more likely I am to really keep up with it.

DH does have some projects that need to be done before I want to get those towels though. There are some tiles that need to be replaced and I think I'm going to ask him to either show me how to do it or do it himself before we call that room finished and move on to "decorating" another room. Yes, we're still decorating, painting and things like that. The living room is half done in terms of the painting, but we also want to add a chair rail, which is going to take some work getting done. I need to have a good discussion with DH about that, too.

Well, this has been a rather odd entry in a DD blog. I guess in other (DD related news) I've asked DH for a spanking tonight. I'm not sure if I'm going to get it, but I tried to mention to him that I need leather once in awhile. The wooden implements we have really are primarily for punishment purposes and I absolutely hate them. So I'm hoping that he'll learn to use his belt for maintenance (since I actually like it to a certain degree, as long as it isn't overdone).

Well, I am going to sign off now and try to keep away from the temptation to do those bathroom walls!