Life According to Stephen: Chicks

As Stephen and I were driving home from the bank today we passed a sign at the feed store that said, "We have CHICKS!" Not wanting to miss an opportunity to razz Stephen, I said, "Hey, look! We could pull in there and get you a CHICK!" (Remember, girls are icky!)

Meanwhile, Stephen had seen the sign and started making chick noises, so he said, "They say cheep, cheep, cheep."

I answered, "No they are anything but cheap, cheap, cheap."

Stephen insisted, "They say cheep, cheep, cheep."

Thinking about it, I relented, "OK, maybe they do spend a lot of time calling you cheap, cheap, cheap."

Quickly Stephen got caught up in the joke and piped in, "Until they grow up. Then all they say is gobble, gobble, gobble!"

FIYA

So there's this classroom I clean every day. I've decided that the kids in the class are future members of FIYA. For a while I found these unfolded paper clips everywhere. They reminded me of little shivs, like the homemade knives they make in prisons, only pint-sized. Now I'm finding the tops of pencils. Not the erasers, mind you, the points . . . perfectly cut off. I couldn't help but wonder what tool an elementary school kid is finding that can so perfectly and straightly decapitate a pencil. I know the teacher, and find it hard to believe that she is at all boring, so I'm pretty sure she just has a class of hardened 10-or-so-year-olds. And I'm sure that the membership of FIYA--Future Incarcerated Youths of America is soon going to increase.

B. Family's "Educational" Daffynitions

Ok, so this came to me as we were cleaning at our church's private school the other day.

Home room--"base" when we're playin' tag . . . which is how the day usually begins.
Orientation--the time of year when we get new "school" stuff. The day we look at our books for about an hour, then do fun stuff the rest of the day.
Homework--our punishment when we don't pay attention to mom reading or when we wrestle instead of working on our workbook pages.
Open House--when our work's done and we get to GO OUTSIDE!!! Or maybe when we ditch the regular stuff to have friends come over and play.
Recess--what we're doin' just before mom says,"Hey, where are you guys! You're supposed to be doing school!!!"
Teacher--Mom
Principal--in our house, God. In some of our friends' homes, their dad.
School board--our response when we're asked, "Do you like school?" and we respond, "School? Bored!"
Extracurricular--anything fun that doesn't require mom to tie us in our seats.
Home economics--what mom calls our chores.
Science lab--our kitchen.
Book report--when we chatter on and on about the cool thing happening in the latest book we're reading.

Top Ten Reasons I Want to Marry McGyver

The boys and I've been watching re-runs of my old favorites. I had forgotten how impressive this guy is . . . even more so than he is in Stargate SG-1. So here are my reasons:

1. He's always a gentleman!
2. Kiss goodbye to stressing over all the stuff breaking down around my house.
3. He'd keep Stephen busy for hours with all the science stuff
4. He knows about every country in the world--even the little ones!
5. My spontaneous, impulsive nature would clearly not be a problem for him.
6. He likes kids and can talk to them!
7. I'd never have to worry about that tool I misplaced--he can use a pocket knife, twist ties, and paper clips!
8. Oh, how I've missed that 80's hair cut!
9. The never-a-dull-moment pace of my house wouldn't bother him.
10. The boys would have someone to blow things up with!

The only thing that would have to go is that 80's synthesized music. What WAS it with that? Did people really like it?

Josh-isms

Yes, even teenagers can say funny things!

"Coroboration: making the truth fit your story. I know that big work 'cause I learned Logic."

He said it with a smile, so I knew there was some humor injected into his "definition."

Blessings: God's Answer for a Difficult Life

Psalm 127
A song of ascents. Of Solomon.

Unless the LORD builds the house,

its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city,

the watchmen stand guard in vain.

In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat--

for he grants sleep to those he loves.

Sons are a heritage from the LORD,

children a reward from him.

Like arrows in the hands of a warrior

are sons born in one's youth.

Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.

They will not be put to shame

when they contend with their enemies in the gate.
Psalms 127:1-5 (NIV)

I was just sharing with a friend how this Psalm hit me in a moment of anxiety and stress. I was struck by the progression in it, particularly from the vanity of frantic working, toiling, and going without sleep in an attempt to handle the difficulty of life. Then came the answer—God’s answer: children. Although a number of my friends had urged me to use my little blessings more extensively, it wasn’t until I saw it in this Psalm that I resolved to really hold the boys up to higher expectations of helping around the house (and around life!).

Tonight I went through some commentaries to see if any of the wise men I respect noticed the same thing. I found some interesting and even humorous things in Adam Clarke’s 19th century commentary.

This Psalm may be entitled, "The Soliloquy of the happy Householder: - The
poor man with a large loving family, and in annual expectation of an increase,
because his wife, under the Divine blessing, is fruitful." All are blessed of
the Lord, and his hand is invariably upon them for good.
—Adam Clarke's Commentary

This is his summary. Read on for some of the particulars that I liked.

Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord - That is, To many God gives children in
place of temporal good. To many others he gives houses, lands, and thousands of
gold and silver, and with them the womb that beareth not; and these are their
inheritance. The poor man has from God a number of children, without lands or
money; these are his inheritance; and God shows himself their father, feeding
and supporting them by a chain of miraculous providences. Where is the poor man
who would give up his six children, with the prospect of having more, for the
thousands or millions of him who is the center of his own existence, and has
neither root nor branch but his forlorn solitary self upon the face of the
earth? Let the fruitful family, however poor, lay this to heart; "Children are a
heritage of the Lord; and the fruit of the womb is his reward." And he who gave
them will feed them; for it is a fact, and the maxim formed on it has never
failed, "Wherever God sends mouths, he sends meat." "Murmur not," said an Arab
to his friend, "because thy family is large; know that it is for their sakes
that God feeds thee." —Adam Clarke's Commentary

Kind of cute since my best friend happens to have six children. What a rich couple she and her husband are!!! I also love that he seems to agree with my crazy idea that God will feed my boys and I through “a chain of miraculous providences.” Some of those providences might include different types of work, some might include the generosity and love of others, and who knows? Sometimes it might be manna from heaven or flour and oil that never seems to run out!

Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them - This is generally supposed
to mean his house full of children, as his quiver if full of arrows; but I
submit whether it be not more congenial to the metaphors in the text to consider
it as applying to the wife: "Happy is the man who has a breeding or fruitful
wife;" this is the gravida sagittis pharetra "the quiver pregnant with arrows."
But it may be thought the metaphor is not natural. I think otherwise: and I know
it to be in the Jewish style, and the style of the times of the captivity, when
this Psalm was written—Adam Clarke's Commentary

I LOVE it!!! I know a breeding, fruitful wife, and even though she’s a bit fruity at times, her husband IS a blessed man!

With the enemies in the gate. - "When he shall contend with his adversaries in
the gate of the house of judgment." - Targum. The reference is either to courts
of justice, which were held at the gates of cities, or to robbers who endeavor
to force their way into a house to spoil the inhabitants of their goods. In the
first case a man falsely accused, who has a numerous family, has as many
witnesses in his behalf as he has children. And in the second case he is not
afraid of marauders, because his house is well defended by his active and
vigorous sons. It is, I believe, to this last that the psalmist refers.

Heh, heh, heh. Don’t I know all about this! People comment that I don’t have to fear a burglar because of the German Shepherd guarding our house. Forget the dog! Look out for my little "virgorous and active sons!" They spend HOURS a day practicing the use of their weapons, and would LOVE to practice on living human subjects of the bad-guy kind!

Anyway, these are just thoughts from me. I do love this Psalm. It’s interesting how in our culture we’ve inverted the role of children to being our burden instead of relieving our burden.

My 888 List

OK. I've stayed up way too late to do this, but I have my list. Note that it is subject to change on a whim, as I find NEW books to add to it.

8 Books I’d Like to Finish

1. A Chance to Die (Elliot)
2. Smart Organizing DONE!
3. A House for My Name
4. Peacemaking for Families
5. Homeschooling the Challenging Child DONE!
6. Age of Opportunity
7. Women in the Material World
8. The Tiger Rising (DiCamillo) DONE!
   

8 Books by Some of My Favorite Authors

1. Number the Stars (Lowry)
2. The Silent Boy (Lowry)
3. Redeeming Love (Rivers)
4. The Shofar Blew (Rivers)
5. Disciplines of the Beautiful Woman (Ortland)
6. Surprised by Joy (Lewis)
7. Calico Captive (Speare)
8. The Tiger Rising (DiCamillo) DONE!

8 Christian Classics (or Destined to Be Classics)

1. Christian’s Secret to a Happy Life (Whitall Smith)
2. The Practice of Godliness (Bridges)
3. The Everlasting (Chesterton)
4. Orthodoxy (Chesterton)
5. Let the Nations Be Glad (Piper)
6. Till We Have Faces (Lewis)
7. Experiencing God (Blackaby)
8. Absolute Surrender (Murray)

8 Fiction Books

1. The Shofar Blew
2. Fahrenheit 451
   
3. Island of the Blue Dolphin
4. Calico Captive
5. Across Five Aprils
6. The Hedge of Thorns
7. Carry On, Captain Bowditch! DONE!
8. Sarah, Plain and Tall
   

8 Books to Make Me a Better Teacher

1. I Wanna Take Me a Picture
2. Future Men (Wilson)
3. Teach Them Dilligently: How to Use Scriptures in Child Training
4. Minds of Boys
5. Piecing Together the Highschool Puzzle (Mastrioncola) DONE!
6. Shaping the Man Inside Teenage Boys (Beausay)
7. You Can Teach Your Child Successfully (Beechick)
8. When the Brain Can’t Hear DONE!

8 Books to Read with My Boys

1. Duncan’s War (Bond)
2. Tuck Everlasting DONE!
3. Boy (Dahl) DONE!
4. The Three Musketeers
5. The Giant Killer
6. Who Put the Skunk in the Trunk?: Learning to Laugh When Life Stinks
7. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever DONE!
8. Boyhood and Beyond

8 Books I Loved That I Want to Read to My Youngest Son

1. How Fletcher Was Hatched DONE!
2. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
3. Prince Caspian
4. Voyage of the Dawn Treader
5. Blueberries for Sal DONE!
6. Little House in the Big Woods
7. The Velveteen Rabbit DONE!
8. Amelia Bedelia DONE!

8 Working on Me (a little)

1. The Heart of Anger
2. The Universe Next Door
3. The Power of Words
4. Desperate Households
5. How to Win Over Depression
6. Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate
7. Idols of the Heart, Learning to Long for God Alone
8. Smart Organizing DONE!

The Dog's Defense

IMG_8032
Originally uploaded by cmphotomommy

It's hard to be a watch dog when you have so many other responsibilities. All the work we're expected to do? Leaves a body doggone tired!

If You Give a Mom a Camera . . .

If you give a mom a camera, she'll want to take pictures of her babies.
If she takes pictures, she'll want to share them.
When she shares them, she will want to tell about them.
So she'll start a blog, post pictures and write about them.
While she's on the blog, she'll decide to check out other blogs.
On another blog site, she will notice a Flickr badge.
When she clicks on the Flickr badge, she'll discover thatshe can have a Flickr account!
After she opens her Flickr account she will add pictures to her account.
While she's adding pictures, she will play around with all the really cool features Flickr has.
When she's exploring Flickr, she'll run across a "Do More with Your Pictures" link.
When she clicks on that link, she'll see something called Blurb.
As she checks out Blurb, she will discover that she can print her blogs into one very nice, bound book.
She will want to download the Booksmart software, just to play with!
Once she plays with it, she will want to make a book.
When she finishes her first blog book, she will want to make another.
As she works on her blog book, she'll realize how many events and occurances are missing from her stories.
She will want to write more stories.
If she writes more stories, she will want to add more pictures.
In order to take more pictures, she will have to find her camera.

News flash: Lisa finds new obsession--making blog books. News at Eleven.

Copyright 2007
Lisa A. Baker

National Lampoon's Cub Scout Adventure

I spent Friday night and a very LONG Saturday at Cuboree, an annual Cub Scout camping event. It was fun. Yeah. I can't wait to go next year. And I'm SO relieved that next year is still a year away.

As usual, all my plans for getting out of the house early went to pot. Somehow I always feel like my life operates according to Murphy's Law. I awoke Friday morning feeling a little under the weather--like I was coming down with a bug. A very dear friend had agreed to take my boys along with her on a co-op field trip, so I had most of the day to get stuff done, but instead I started the morning taking a needed nap. I wouldn't have, except I knew the boys would be very disappointed if I couldn't take them camping. When I got up, I had an extended quiet time with the Lord, then I had to get my five hours of chores done in about one. Not a great start.

I managed to pull together most of our camping stuff, but even after I picked the boys up and got them home, I kept thinking of so many things I needed to do before I left, that we left much later than planned. We finally arrived at the camp ground at about 7 pm. It was hot and very muggy, and I was already sweaty, tired and crabby from the hectic packing and leaving. With very generous help from the dads on the trip, I managed to get set up pretty quickly, and the evening was pretty laid back--mostly just playing around the campsite and toasting white fuel. (I've decided that I need to just reset my thinking and call marshmallows what they are--fuel.) Of course, it was laid back after I made the trip home to get some important things I forgot (like the pump to blow up the air mattress).

Getting ready for bed was a little tricky. While the scout camp ground was equipped with enough Port-O-Potties, there wasn't much in the way of other facilities. I suppose other people had had a rough evening too, but there wasn't much excuse for the guy who kept heckling us while we (three of us!) used the bathroom to do our end-of-the-evening business (the kind even boys can't do in the woods!) and clean up. I finally told the guy in no uncertain terms that there was a line INSIDE the bathroom just like there was one outside!

Then we headed back to our tent and the boys headed inside while I washed my filthy feet (bright idea wearing my imitation Crock sandals in Florida dirt). As I was trying to clean myself up, the boys found a guest in our tent--the kind with wings and a large brown body, and a cute Mexican song named for him. They kept panicking over him, while I kept telling them to just pick him up and throw him out--after all, it is better to catch him than to have him crawl over you in the middle of the night! (Ugghh! Gives me the heebie jeebies all over again!) But he got away. So I searched all over (didn't want him crawling on ME in the night) and finally freed him from the constraints of our tent.

At last we laid our sweaty bodies down in the stuffy tent. (Sadly, I had to sleep on the real hard ground. The pump made it but the nozel to fit into the mattress didn't.) The boys complained that they'd never be able to fall asleep, and I had just enough time to threaten their lives if they touched me before I heard them snoring. It only took me another two hours to start dozing. But dozing was all I did for a long while. First the heat kept me awake. Then one of my boys started talking in his sleep. Then I heard another boy in another tent crying for mommy. Night noises. Woodsy noises. My other boy sitting up and talking. Finally I dozed off, almost asleep. It was probably about 2:30 am. At about 3:30 I was jarred awake by the sound of wheezing--an all-too-familiar sound of someone (a dad, not a kid) having an asthma attack. My heart raced as I wondered what to do. Finally I got up and stepped out of the tent. By that time, he had evidently found an inhaler and the gasping had turned to just coughing, and was settling down. But of course my heart was racing and my adrenaline pumping. I was wide awake now. And hey! It was cool outside! But I got back into my tent and decided to read and pray for a while. Then I went back to sleep for a few more hours.

Morning came too soon, but I got up, got the boys fed and we headed to the flag ceremony. The day was filled with activities for the boys, as I ran back and forth to camp to pack things up, break down the tent and lug stuff to the car (we weren't allowed to take the parked cars back into the camp sites on Saturday). After lunch, I left for a while to head home (just a couple miles away) and check on the dogs and at that time I did the smartest thing of the day--I unloaded most of our stuff. I spent the rest of the day walking and either looking for our pack or watching the boys.

While I know this sounds like a terrible trip, and it WAS hot and exhausting, I actually found many things for which to be thankful. Last year every single camping trip we had planned was cancelled by inclement weather or something else. All year I never felt the group blended well. But this weekend I was able to get to know and really enjoy the other dads and boys. It was really fun to be around guys talking about air conditioning units and football teams--I don't get to do that much. It was also fun to see the boys really enjoying other boys, and running around without hinderance. The activities were fun for them, and the men there really pitched in and watched my boys or helped me with things so I could juggle everything.

I was also thankful that Saturday we had overcast weather and a little rain, but it never poured. It was nice weather for outdoors activities. We also came home to a fairly clean house, and although I still have all the stuff to go through, I always feel good when I do something so out of my element like camping. One of the experienced dads teased me as a couple of newer dads helped me set up that I was actually more experienced than anyone there. It was fun going and kind of knowing what I was doing. And even though it was hot, and I clearly saw again how out of shape I am physically, I survived, got much needed exercise, and slept VERY well last night. I also really appreciate all the little luxuries God has given us that I usually take for granted (like air conditioning and hot showers).

So the next camping trip? Well, I think we could go.

Things Moms Must Know About Boys

These are 'specially important to know if you didn't grow up with brothers.

• Boys do not wear panties. They wear underwear, boxers, briefs, skivvies, but not panties.
• Boys do not have slumber parties. They are called sleepovers, and they require LOTS of food, at least two video game systems, and DVDs with lots of combat and goofy humor.
• Boys do not play with dolls. They are called action figures.
• Boys do not play dress up. They wear the uniform for the current battle. Usually that battle is related to whatever battle DVD they are watching or just watched.
• Boy movies do not have to make sense or have a logical plot. They just have to have several weapons, body noises, and senseless humor. No kissing or happy endings, thank you. They're fine if everyone dies at the end.
• Do not call boys sweetie, honey, dear, or sugar. You can use buddy, big guy, or dude if you like.
• If you call a girl "boy" or "dude" she'll look at you like you have three heads. Then she'll shrug and walk off, thinking you're crazy. But if you call a boy "girl" or "princess" or something like that, he'll begin arming for war. Them's fightin' words!
• Boys automatically speak a second language. It includes belches, farts, armpit noises, and all kinds of other body noises.
• Boys need sound effects. They come prewired to make noises of explosions, shooting, and machine gun fire. Some girls will never figure out how to make these noises correctly.
• Boys insult each other the way dogs sniff each other's tails. It's just not as offensive to them as it is to us girls.

This isn't an exhaustive list, just tips to get you started.

Some Random Things

• There are SEVEN boys downstairs right now. They are playing video games, eating (of course!), and making LOTS of noise. All but one are sleeping over. I expect it will be a late night.
• I got a new grill in April. I finally made perfect hamburgers and hot dogs on it tonight (not burned). It's not me. The grill runs very hot. Really. Anyway, I'm feeling very proud of myself.
• There are no hamburgers left . . . and I made more than there were people. But I still have hot dogs!
• I have twelve books of my own that I'm trying to read, but for some reason, I have spent the last three days reading one of Josh's (one I'm pre-reading, so he can read it). I wish he'd get off my back.
• I'm trying to figure out why I clean house before the boys have friends over. This time, I didn't do much, and I'm feeling OK about it.
• On Sunday my older boys go to camp. I'm trying to figure out what to do with the youngest. If he stays with me, I'm trying to figure out who he can talk to.
• My back hurts. I went to the chiropractor today and he said my sacroilliac is out of place. He put it back in place, but it doesn't seem to want to stay where it belongs. I'm wondering if I can just buy a new one.
• My oldest son acts weird when he's around friends. Is that normal?
• I really like my sons' friends. They are a lot of fun. Is it normal for teen boys to like their friends' parents?
• We only have exactly thirteen days until we start school. I'm sooooo not ready.

Sometimes They're Just No Fun

Why why why do boys have to ALWAYS one-up each other? Why?

I ate my ice cream.
I ate my ice cream faster.
I ate my ice cream faster, got a brain freeze, and still ate it fast.
I ate my ice cream faster, got a brain freeze, but I ate it faster.

I was here first.
I was here before you even came downstairs.
I stood here all night, so I was here first.
I was born right on this very spot, and haven't moved since except to go to the bathroom, so I got here first!

Then there's the one-up that makes no sense to me whatever.

I have five guns.
I have twelve guns.
I have twenty guns, three bombs and a tank.
I have a nuclear weapon.

"MOM!!! Josh said he can use any eight powers he wants, but I only get to use two of mine, and they can't include super-strength or heat vision! Mom! Tell him to let me use my powers!"

Uuuugggghhhh! Quit it already! There are NO mountains in Florida, so ya can't be king of it!

OK, here's the twist in my house. I do sometimes like to play "one-up," but I'd really like it to be a little more fun. 'Cause here's how it goes at my house:

I'm hungry.
I'm hungry too.
I'm hungrier than you. I could eat a cow.

(Ok, at this point, I'm looking for an animal a little bigger, until we get to something like the Great Blue Whale and run out of big animals. What do I get?)

I'm hungry infinity times to heaven and back. (Game over.)

Guess there's no point even trying to cook for that appetite. Why can't we just have fun imagining what we could eat?????

Makes a Mother Proud . . . .

Tonight, AJ was inventing a new computer. Something about it was small enough to fit on your wrist . . . I don't know, I didn't get it all. (After all, I don't invent computers! I can hardly use them!) Meanwhile, his brother Stephen was programming another computer with a new language . . . or ability . . . or something like that (once again . . . me and the computer . . . enough said).

All at once, AJ decided he wanted to use FOUR of his powers (never was really sure exactly what they were, but I caught something about stretchy, strong, and fire), but the problem with this was that in whatever contract they signed, Josh got to use double the powers of AJ . . . or more of them . . . so that meant Josh got to go to EIGHT of his. Somehow Stephen got short-changed in the deal, 'cause no matter what, he only got to use one power at a time. But . . . he had his computer!

Exactly how many powers do you need to fight off bad guys?

And if you have super powers, why on earth do you need computers?

The Million Dollar . . . DOG!!!

Yes, that is what I've adopted. Not only is he crazy. . . not only does he destroy everything he finds near the floor . . . but now? He has allergies! I had noticed him chewing on his feet a lot and saw that the hair was thinning and that they were a little red. Since I've found a more or less inexpensive vet, I figured I should get it checked out. So we took Nate yesterday and he has a yeast infection combined with a bacterial skin infection and yeast in his ears resulting from allergies!!! Fortunately Walmart now offers $4 perscriptions, even if the meds are for a dog! My poor pup has to be bathed twice a week, have drops in his ears two to three times a day, have his feet wiped with special medicated pads two to three times a day, and has a med given in the morning and two at night. Or maybe I should say poor mom has to wash the dog twice a week, wipe down doggie paws several times a day, put drops in the ears, and trick him into taking pills in the morning and night all for allergies. Sorry buddy, but I'm not spendin' much more on ya. You'll just have to scratch!

Maybe I should consider contributing to Social Security in his name. Then in a few years, we could afford his medical care. And if the government argues with me? I'll tell them that Walmart took a prescription for him!

Yes. We Adopted a Crazy Dog.

Nathan has taken lately to barking at himself. Why you ask? Late at night, he sees his reflection in the glass door and goes crazy. A couple nights ago, he barked at himself for over an hour.
Straight.
Until I put him in the crate.
I didn't want to but it had gotten late.
I told him, "Please stop. Don't bark, Nate!"
For a half hour I tried to wait!

OK, enough!!! No more Dr. Suess! Sorry.

Anyway, he's also still chewing up EVERYTHING!!! He ruined a brand new pair of sandals the other day. I've found countless pencils, marbles, legoes, plastic animals, other shoes and socks, and everything else in his mouth. And he just thinks he owns everything, including me I think. He has claimed my bed, my pillow, my lap, my couch, anything he can lay on or defend, he does it. Nevertheless, he does still love Princess, and he's so stinkin' cute, so we put up with a lot and love him anyway.

I have yet to find anything that makes me regret the decision to adopt him. He is just a bundle of boundless energy and curiosity . . . kinda like his owner.

Are You Related to Toy Story's Sid?

We're convinced our new dog Nathan is. I take stuff out of his mouth all the time: marbles, wood, shredded papers, a bath scrunchie, a straw, legoes, shoes!, etc. But toys? They are a favorite!

See?

Princess isn't taking any chances.

Use Caution When Choosing a Movie at My House

I started watching Rocky Balboa yesterday, and decided it was a great movie for the boys. (And I wasn't wrong.) But here's what happened at my house tonight:

TV viewing for us is not passive. It is definitely interactive. Anyone who doesn't believe that all the problems we are seeing in society are much the result of the media kids are exposed to . . . needs to come spend some time at my house.

And yes, AJ has already come to me crying because he lost a fight. He did get hurt a little, but he was mostly upset that he didn't win the $6 in prize money offered to the champion. 'Course that's what you get when you let your opponent be the ring judge.

The Dangers of My Love for Technology

OK. So I'm noticing this trend in my passion for technology. I noticed it today as I irritatedly tried to get video feed transferred from my camera to something!!! See, my dad gave me this really great video camera about four years ago. Stephen and I were going to Mexico, and so of course we needed it. It was an early generation DVR camera--really cool at the time. When I got my computer I thought it would be a piece of cake to transfer video footage to make DVD's. Transferring was easy, but there was no way to burn DVD's with the software I had pre-installed.

So I finally purchased Adobe Photoshop and Premiere. I LOVED Photoshop, but to my irritation, Premiere would not work with my CPU processor. About a year ago, I got a new computer, which I made SURE I could use Premiere on. Premiere loaded and worked fine, but my stupid camera--only accepts a USB 1 cord or Firewire, and of course my new computer has only USB jacks and Premiere only accepts USB 2 feed. I could use Premiere to make really great photo slide shows, but no video footage. Aaaarrrrgggghhh! Do you see where this is going?

Now about Christmas time, we were given money for the family. Our DVD player had been acting up, so finally! I had the solution! I would buy a DVD-R, so I could transfer video to a disk, then load the disk to my computer and Premiere. With Josh having been in this play, I finally had a real motivation to get it working, so we rushed home Friday night to play the video on our TV. But the cord that is supposed to transfer video from the camera to the other thingy you want to play it on? USB of course . . . which my TV and DVD-R have no receptor for, and my computer won't accept because it's USB 1!!!! (I'm feeling like and Abbot and Costello routine right now.)

There was one hope. My camera had Four output holes--USB, S-video, Firewire, and a little round yellow hole. The little round hole was my last hope, so I stopped at Radio Shack today to see if I could get a cord that worked. Mr. Knows-Everything-About-Electronics at Radio Shack looked at me like I was mentally challenged and handed me the correct TWENTY-FIVE DOLLAR cord. But hey! At this point I have about a fortune invested in being able to make these videos, so what's another 25 bucks? I drove home with images in my head of what I would do with that cord if I got home and it didn't work either (they did involve Mr. Knows-Everything). Got home . . . plugged in the cord to my camera . . . plugged the cord into my TV set . . . and . . . we have video! And sound!

I spent Mother's Day copying an hour and a half of video to a DVD, transferring it to my computer, importing it to Premiere, and editing video to my heart's content.

I think it would have been cheaper and easier to just buy a new camera. And oh yeah, Photoshop and Premiere now have a newer version out . . . and they do more stuff. Bet they don't take video footage from my cool little Radio Shack cord.

Just Another Example of Military Intelligence

I saw this at the recreation of a Vietnamese base camp, and wondered if this was a genuine detail. Having grown up a military brat, I actually suspect I know the answer.