tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37212092009-12-16T10:10:03.358-06:00Oblique Housewhere nothing is quite parallel nor perpendicular and likewise not as bleak as it may sound......
Observations of an opinionated Catholic home-schooling mother...<br>
<a href="mailto:ellynv@prodigy.net">E-Mail Me</a>Ellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553189251750677842noreply@blogger.comBlogger3423125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721209.post-6946425790512559782009-12-16T10:08:00.001-06:002009-12-16T10:10:03.499-06:00Wearing crocs to work and forgetting to change into legitimate shoes. . .Just one pathetic step away from wandering around in public while wearing pajama pants.(but the week ain't over yet, folks!)Ellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553189251750677842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721209.post-18760614261550117222009-12-15T17:11:00.002-06:002009-12-15T17:16:57.691-06:00Draw Something that Reminds You of Christmas.Best not make it too Christian. Unless you want Mom and Dad to spend their Christmas money on psychological services...Ellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553189251750677842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721209.post-3349326126102538732009-12-15T10:48:00.003-06:002009-12-15T17:08:29.658-06:00Edward was Edward before Edward was in...*Someday, decades from now, Eddie may have a grandchild who misconstrues the backstory on his name. The prediction is the Edward is going to be very big...as a name, that is. Edward is about to become the Jason, Joshua, Jeremy and Jennifer of a new generation.I'm not the only person who has noticed an increase in the latitude people have when deciding Ellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553189251750677842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721209.post-50612297559963428102009-12-14T11:44:00.013-06:002009-12-14T22:39:56.264-06:00One of these vans is parked in my driveway...In other news:Christmas is eleven days away, with its attendant work concerns. I have a miserable cold. (OK, I always say miserable. Maybe because miserable sounds so wretched when said by someone with congested sinuses. Biserble code. "I have a biserble code.") No time for slacking...will do that somewhere in the octave of Christmas.Working on Ellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553189251750677842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721209.post-17152473357785721332009-12-07T12:16:00.000-06:002009-12-07T12:17:25.032-06:00Of all the surprises in our stockings...Lily's was the best!Ellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553189251750677842noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721209.post-58030617850820256232009-12-04T07:43:00.003-06:002009-12-04T07:56:37.068-06:00Check Out Fr. Barron on Eucharistic Adoration[including My Favorite Maritain!]and while you're at it, look into Fr.'s thoughts on 2012. If you're brave you may wish to peek into a world in which school children 'old enough to know better' are under the impression that 2012 is some sort of Discovery Channel-style documentary. That's scary.Ellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553189251750677842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721209.post-74560655121215485962009-12-03T07:26:00.001-06:002009-12-03T07:28:01.943-06:00An urgent prayer request...here.Ellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553189251750677842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721209.post-21732693106066313232009-12-01T18:26:00.003-06:002009-12-01T20:07:04.155-06:00Point well taken... "Smart people, nay, brilliant ones use emoticons. Articulate, bright, funny people. Yet when I see a smiley, my first thought is, 'What are you, 12 years old?'"You know, she's right. But I can't seem to help myself. Just as the the double touch on the space bar after a period is automatic, so is the the little smiley I so often use at the end of email. Is it a gesture of Ellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553189251750677842noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721209.post-26224656350003826382009-12-01T17:42:00.003-06:002009-12-01T17:50:13.392-06:00A von Huben Family Theatricalstarring Miss Lilyanne, because every one year old girl wants "an official Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot range model air rifle." No eyes were shot out in the making of this video. Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!Ellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553189251750677842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721209.post-12195811075802559002009-11-30T07:54:00.008-06:002009-11-30T17:52:09.804-06:00How's That Workin' Out for You?Last year, in the interest of family warmth and lively conversation, I made up a homemade deck of Proust questionnaire cards. Some people were crazy about it. Others...not so much.This year I pulled out the box of Family Dinner Conversation Starters that Danielle gave me last Christmas. I thought the professionally vetted family dinner cards might go over better Ellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553189251750677842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721209.post-82647518335048816732009-11-29T20:26:00.003-06:002009-11-29T20:56:54.497-06:00The Day After Thanksgiving.Not black friday at my house...I'm not sure if there is ever a day we move "into the black." But whatever.I didn't have to work, so I spent the day in a most delightfully unstructured way. Fran and I did have to run uptown midafternoon to rescue Martha from work before the community tree lighting ceremony. The toy store finds that it is counterproductive to remain Ellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553189251750677842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721209.post-24474105553770623772009-11-25T20:19:00.003-06:002009-11-25T20:43:08.105-06:00Before I Wish You All a Happy Thanksgiving...here is the Cranberry Ice recipe that I may have promised last year.My fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Cramer, contributed this to a class cookbook. We made it once and it then became a Smith family tradition. Karen made her family's batch yesterday; it's nestled in the freezer, near the venison she hopes to never cook. I just finished the boiling and Ellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553189251750677842noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721209.post-65120397832317698352009-11-24T11:34:00.003-06:002009-11-24T11:39:28.334-06:00Started to read this at work, but couldn't finish...because, well, I should be working. And I also have a strong personal commitment to not being found weeping at my desk. So I'll just dismiss it for now with a casual joke about being happy that there are no subways where I live...Ellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553189251750677842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721209.post-81723785407202265182009-11-16T16:28:00.003-06:002009-11-16T16:44:08.556-06:00Not that I CareI was wondering if the New Moon movie premiere was timed for an actual new moon. The moon phase gadget on my iGoogle (there mostly for fun, but there are times it does predict an uptick in weird calls at work. And maybe at home.) says the moon is new. And there is no way I could not avoid hearing about that movie. So?As for me? I'm waiting for my chance to see Fantastic Mr. Ellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553189251750677842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721209.post-74278675402262635662009-11-16T07:11:00.003-06:002009-11-16T07:37:10.578-06:00O Clavis David...Yes, for the rest of you it is Monday, November 16. But I am soon off to my magical world where it is the fourth Sunday in Advent. (or even 4:00pm on December 24th, if I am answering email from altar server parents who are eager for the plum assignments.) The vesper song sheets are pretty much done - after correcting the unfortunate canticle swap - needing only some artwork andEllynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553189251750677842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721209.post-59301231642277938042009-10-30T07:40:00.007-05:002009-10-31T13:56:44.079-05:00Halloween Greetings...May I suggest that you sample (between the mozzarella eyeballs and mummy cupcakes)...Sally Thomas on The Drama of Hallowmas, Fr. Robert Barron on vampire mania, and a WSJ article on the brilliance of the late Shirley Jackson.(it's been too long since I read We Have Always Lived in the Castle. I must put it on the "to read" list.)Ellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553189251750677842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721209.post-42439567179854341772009-10-29T07:52:00.002-05:002009-10-29T07:57:16.270-05:00Today in Home EcFrances will work with Eddie to create a Jello brain. (I just grabbed this pic randomly off of Google images...our brain, I think, is going for the real gray matter look.) Now that we have a brain mold, I think it would be funny if we offered to bring a Jello mold to every family gathering and always bring a brain. Kind of like when I was first married and always making Jello Ellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553189251750677842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721209.post-79754292511309641812009-10-28T09:50:00.005-05:002009-10-28T10:23:04.199-05:00More World DeteriorationAndre Agassi cops to using crystal meth - how dangerous! how déclassé! - while I, who have not picked up a tennis racket with any serious intent in many years, have developed tennis elbow. In my left arm. (Which greatly limits phone answering and left-handed drinking while at work.)The television is telling me what children want for the "holiday." Being old fashioned, Ellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553189251750677842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721209.post-56428039135002291072009-10-26T10:11:00.002-05:002009-10-26T10:18:51.536-05:00The World Continues to DeteriorateDespite the fact that I bailed on the road trip (more about that later), I decided to take the day off. Those vacation days don't rack up against purgatory time, so I may as well use them.So, I'm going to have some fun. Starting with observing what happens when I'm usually not home. (not much - for better or worse. Now to clean up that suspicious puddle near Ellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553189251750677842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721209.post-16318105691065647492009-10-25T20:28:00.004-05:002009-10-25T20:37:55.255-05:00Whoa! Not So Fast...While browsing through a Christmas catalog I found, in between the blown glass flowers, frogs and fortune cookies, this bit of presumption ready for personalization. I would hope that my loved ones would continue to pray for my soul, rather than assume my immediate admission to the beatific vision. Now to find a catalog with a "Christmas in Purgatory" ornament...Ellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553189251750677842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721209.post-56728282242731505742009-10-25T15:39:00.006-05:002009-10-28T10:24:19.420-05:00Ellyn Loves You All!A high school classmate of my husband submitted a sketch rather than the standard senior portrait. A sunset with the caption "Ralph Loves You All." (This was in 1971 - makes sense, right?) My years as a yearbook photographer and Rick's appearance on many athletic teams pale in the family's eyes when compared to Ralph's bit of acting out. Though the kids and I (and probably Ellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553189251750677842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721209.post-3754278347777782582009-10-22T11:15:00.005-05:002009-10-24T17:29:50.686-05:00I Know Good Kitsch When I See It*In the summer of 1978, when Rick and I were impoverished newly-weds, The Ideals Publishing Company liquidated a great deal of its original art. I insisted on going to the sale - just to have a look at some of the pictures from my favorite Christmas picture book. The paintings were large and impressive and only selling for about $750 each. Where are those Ellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553189251750677842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721209.post-58050955991732017722009-10-21T07:47:00.001-05:002009-10-21T09:43:42.617-05:00Road TripThis is shaping up as a very busy week. The world obsesses about Halloween and I'm already deeply into Advent at work. Once I finish the Advent Vespers 'worship aids' and I dive into Christmas. And there's the altar server pizza dinner reminders and the tabulation of the altar server attendance statistics (which I actually brought home with me last night; they were never looked at Ellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553189251750677842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721209.post-14259227076502311502009-10-20T21:49:00.002-05:002009-10-20T21:56:22.301-05:00Angel TrumpetsThe perfume that the flowers release is an extremely sweet, intoxicating scent. These plants will bloom year round if given the proper care.Stock up on Benadryl. Really.Ellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553189251750677842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721209.post-1657963506574297032009-10-19T10:35:00.000-05:002009-10-19T10:36:22.742-05:00Funny, I thought I saw her in my hutch just this morning.Ellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553189251750677842noreply@blogger.com2