One of my favorite ways to “escape”, especially in the dead of winter, is to play with my blog.  So, after spending a couple of days searching for cool new Wordpress Themes, I finally found one that I actually like.  Most of the time Wordpress themes are too clinical for me.  Occasionally they are too teeny-bopper.  It’s rare for me to find one that I think conveys the mood I’m looking for in my blog.  But, this one caught my eye, and I think it will do for now.  For a while!  If you like it, would you please leave me a comment and let me know?

Meanwhile, in other news:  it’s supposed to snow again tonight, but only an inch or so.  We used to get so excited about the possibility of an inch or so of snow.  Now, not so much.  I am so looking forward to warm weather!

I think I’ve mentioned before that I’m not nearly so entertaining as Dave Barry, but I still do my best to do some sort of  “Year In Review”, although usually it is in the form of a newsletter that I send out at Christmas.  Well, this year I didn’t send out a newsletter.  I have a lot of reasons for that, such as the obvious money-saving excuse, but on a deeper level, I think it is because I have come to the conclusion that, those who are truly interested in what is going on in my life and that of my husband and children, either call me regularly, or read this blog.

I love blogging.  I intentionally have not put up any ads on it, to make it cleaner and friendlier for my readers.  However, my best

Kendall the Journalist

friends never read this blog. And, if they did, it wouldn’t give them any new information.  I talk to them regularly on the phone or in person.  My extended family, to my knowledge, never reads this blog.  In particular:  my brother and sister and most of the rest of my family do not read this blog.  Nor do they talk to me.  I should mention, however, that my sister does call me on random occasions, and she always seems to know where I live and what my phone number is.  I can only assume that means she still loves me!   On the rare occasions that I call them, the conversation usually starts with them saying something warm and caring, letting me know that I matter to them and they keep a close eye on me.  Something like “Oh, hi!  Where are you?  Do you still live in North Carolina?”  Or “I don’t have your phone number.”  (Please note that I have had the same cell phone number for the last decade, and that for the past two and a half decades I have sent out the obligatory annual newsletter apprising everyone of my address and phone numbers.)

Now, my immediate family does read this blog.  My mom, Gaylon, Kendall, his fiance Lishi and Faith usually read it voluntarily.  Alex reads it if I threaten him.  He has Facebook friends to talk to, after all.  Some of Kendall’s friends read my blog, and I am pretty sure several of my homeschool mom friends read this blog.

I do have a huge, accidental readership, though.  Back in September, when we were preparing for Alex’s “Victorian Themed Birthday Party” I decided to blog about the research I had done on Victorian clothing, and how it differed from Edwardian clothing.  I titled that post “Victoria vs. Edward”.  Well, apparently if you are a Twilight fan, you will spend a lot of time Googling those names and coming to my blog.  I have gotten literally hundreds of “hits” from all over the world from people Googling those names!!  Sorry, guys!  Just a conservative, Catholic homeschool mom here.

But, I digress.  I was discussing why I didn’t send out my customary Christmas newsletter with some sort of year-in-review.  Well, the other reason was that I didn’t have much to say.  One year ago, we really thought we knew exactly where God was leading us, and what we would be doing.  Now, that year has passed, and we only know one thing for sure:  we don’t have a

Alex at the Piano in His Victorian Tux

clue!!  Gaylon is still working in Texas, the rest of us are still living in North Carolina.  Our house has not sold. (Duh)  In fact, we only had ONE couple come to look at it, throughout the entirety of 2009, and that was back in January.  Yes, of course we will try again in 2010.  We have to.  And yes, my mother still lives with us.  We love her, and hope she will stay with us forever.  So, those are the questions we usually get asked.  For the stuff you didn’t know to ask:

Gaylon. . . loves working for Network Plumbing in Merkel, Texas, but of course he misses his family and wishes we could all be
together.  He comes home about every 3 weeks.  (Note:  I think he does a lot more ranching than plumbing, but that’s just my
personal observation!)

Kendall. . . is now a Senior at  University of North Carolina, Asheville.  He is majoring in Journalism.  Last February he became engaged to the beautiful and delightful Alicia Skojec, and they plan to marry next summer (2010).  We are thrilled for them!

Alex. . . is a Senior in High School, and is still homeschooled.  He has not done much acting this year, but has really focused on his piano and guitar, and is excelling at both.  He is very active in his church youth group and is looking forward to going with them to the March For Life in Washington, D.C., next month.

Faith. . .is a domestic goddess in the making!  She won three ribbons at the Western North Carolina State Fair in September.  Two 2nd place ribbons for a denim, appliqued jumper that she sewed, and for a crocheted scarf, and a 3rd place ribbon for a quilt.  We took a couple of quilting classes this Fall, and she is really, really good at quilting. (Me, not so much! LOL) She also got her own sewing machine and has been sewing amazing things.  She is a fantastic cook, as well.  She also taught herself to

Faith Shows Off Her Herbal Preparations

knit and has turned out some really pretty knitted scarves and pillows. We have been studying herbal remedies this year, and Faith has done a lot of work wildcrafting and preparing her own herbal remedies.  She is in 7th grade this year, and is still homeschooled.  She loves to read, especially Fantasy and Sci-Fi.  Her brothers have been happy to loan her all of their books.

Valarie. . . still loves “documenting the dead” (Genealogy) and homeschooling. I am also still working on some writing projects, that I might actually carve time out for this new year.  I am forever trying to lose weight, and nope, it’s not working.  But alas, I shall start anew in a couple of days with (hopefully) renewed vigor and commitment!

So, there is our year in review.  It has blessedly passed by quickly, and we are praying very hard that this year, our house will sell, and we will get to all be together again.  Because, even though we could have sent out a newsletter bragging on our kids in depth, the truth is that this has been a very difficult year, and we really are glad it’s over.  In fact, it’s been, overall, a pretty rotten decade.  We are praying a LOT that the next year/decade will be infinitely better. We appreciate any prayers on our behalf, and please know that we pray for our friends and family regularly, whether we hear from you, or not.

Happy 2010!!

Props to Matt Archbold over at Creative Minority Report for his incredible parody of Lord of the Rings!

Click this link to read it:Lord of the Czars

Absolutely brilliant!

I’ve been reading a lot of really good blogs lately, and can’t help but think that there are so many ways that I could improve this one.  I could make it look more “professional”, somehow.  I could focus on just one of the things that interest me, like political commentary, or family life & homeschooling, or genealogy (which I think I will still just make an entirely separate website for that), or Catholic Issues/Apologetics, or, or, or. . . .

The problem is, my brain goes in too many directions at once, all the time.  And I can’t even blame the children for that, I’ve always been this way!  For example, last week, I wanted to blog about so many things that I wound up not blogging about anything.  For example, I had a really great blog post floating around in my head entitled “Dude!  Where’s My Plane?” about Obama pretending he didn’t know that someone took AF-1 and did a low flyover of NYC, terrifying the people of Manhattan and causing them to evacuate buildings and have major PTSD flashbacks of 9/11!!  All for a “Photo Op”????  I hope Obama is smarter than that, but at the same time, that would simply mean that he really is that sinister, to intentionally terrify his own people like that.  (Good thing he didn’t try a stunt like that over Dallas or Houston!)

Or I could talk about homeschooling.  About Faith, and how she’s been so busy lately digging up herbs in our yard and woods, and drying them, chopping them and making herbal remedies!  Our kitchen smells kinda funny from time to time, but I am so proud of her! Or about Alex, and how he did so well in school this year, and how funny he was co-hosting the HCHA Talent Show last week (see pictures all over Facebook!!), or about how Kendall is finishing up his first year at UNC-A, and how much he is enjoying studying Journalism, and how cute he is running around with a digital microphone and interviewing everyone he can.  I could say that Gaylon is still in Texas, and that we’re still in North Carolina, and it still stinks!  Our house hasn’t sold yet (duh.) and we are going to move to Texas at the end of the summer anyway, to be with him and get the kids plugged in.

Then I thought about how I’d like to discuss how well my genealogy research has gone lately, and how much I have enjoyed getting in contact with cousins I didn’t even know about down in Central Texas on the Adams side.  We’ve exchanged pictures and information and it’s just been incredible! And did I mention I’m building a website just for genealogy?   That way I can not only separate my genealogy from my political and religious views, but I can keep from boring to death the few readers I have who are not related to me!

And then there is my Catholic Faith, which I am usually pretty low-key about, because I have so many friends who are not only Protestant, but have been taught that Catholics are not Christians, and must be ’saved’!!  My Jewish friends are much more understanding of me being Catholic, probably because of that whole persecution thing.  But I absolutely LOVE being Catholic, and there are so many things I could ‘blog’ about, that might help people understand our faith, our beliefs, our Christianity.  That would probably be best in a separate site, as well.

So, what to do?  What to blog about??  It’s not like there are all these people reading my blog, and hanging on the edge of their chairs waiting for my next post!  Most of my close friends don’t read my blog at all, and of my family, I think only Gaylon, Kendall, Mom and occasionally Faith read it.  And of course, Lishi, (Kendall’s fiance) who is one of the only people who ever leaves me a comment. (And of course, Laura R. and Laura S.!!  I love my Lauras. . .)  I know there are a few folks scattered across the country who read it, but they never comment.  I tried a Poll once, and only a few folks participated in that, so perhaps the bottom line is this:  I blog for me.  If someone doesn’t like what I have to say, they certainly don’t have to read it.  Lishi’s brother, Steve Skojec, always has really great taglines for his blog, like “Cogito, Ergo Blog” (I think that was it. . . . I don’t remember exactly, and now he’s changed it) or his current one “You Didn’t Ask, But I’ll Tell You Anyway”.  Okay, that one really fits my situation, as well. LOL.  I’ve never met Steve, but I love his blog!

So, yeah.  My blog will probably continue to be a collection of randomness, and my title, “Chasing Thoughts” is probably very appropriate.  Maybe someday I will actually be able to focus on one thing for a great length of time.  But then, I will finish writing those books I’ve started, and not worry about blogging!

Well, if you’re reading this, and you’ve been keeping up with me recently, then you know this is the third theme in as many days!  I’m gonna get a bit “geeky” and “techy” here, so bear with me.  As I mentioned in my previous “New Theme” post, Wordpress has been upgrading relentlessly  this past year.  And, I like what they are doing!  At first, I had some doubts, but by this point, even someone like me who has no clue how to create software, can appreciate their hard work in improving the interface and usability.  I love all the new bells and whistles!

However, as I mentioned before, the upgrades have rendered many older themes crippled, at best, and useless, at worst.  My old “Coffee Cup” theme (AKA: ‘Downtown Java’ by Brian Garndner) could no longer keep up with the new platform.  So, a couple days ago, I thought I would try the theme “Amazing Grace“.  I liked the name, and it seemed like it would be really easy to customize.  The guy has some pretty good forums for people to go to for help, and it works great with the latest Wordpress release. He also has some really amazing plug-ins.  I particularly like his “Theme Test-Drive” plug-in, which allows you to play with a theme on your own site, while everyone else who visits the site still sees your regular format.

But for some reason, I couldn’t get my own images to load, at least not all the time.  And, I couldn’t get rid of the default images.  Now, I’m not a coding expert, but I know enough code to usually be able to go in and tweak whatever I need to fit my needs.  So, I went to the forums for help, and started reading posts, thinking I might find my solution there.  Nope.  Furthermore, I didn’t think some of his responses to people were very friendly.  Instead, he was rather sarcastic.  I imagine he gets frustrated with folks asking him lots of questions, all the time, but he could be a bit gentler!  Granted, he has offered the theme for free, and if he charged for it, then that might make a difference in the tone of his customer support.

So I continued my quest for a new, customizable theme that I could use.  I Googled “Wordpress 2.6 Free Themes”, and found that Wordpress.org itself offers a listing of themes that are compatible with their newest release.  The one I am trying out now seems very promising.  Although I like the headers that come with it, I am going to create my own header, and use it instead.  I have had several folks (including my husband and my daughter, whose votes count double!) tell me that they really miss my old header, and liked it better.  So, for those of you who agreed with them, but were too polite to say so, I will be creating another header, hopefully even better than the last one, to go with this theme. But I’m keeping the little stars!  Aren’t they cute??

And what theme is this, that I have chosen now?  Glad you asked!  It is called “Mandigo“.  These guys actually offer several themes, but this one will work best for me, I think.  If you have your own domain, and you use Wordpress for a blogging platform, check them out.  (This would be a good time for me to point out that the free blogs available at Wordpress.com are very, very different than the stuff available at Wordpress.org).  Wordpress.org is where you get all the wonderful OpenSource stuff, including this wonderful blogging software!

Okay, so I’ve loaded this post with all sorts of links, if you are so inclined to follow my path through the Blogosphere and try to figure out what I’m talking about.  If not, that’s okay, too!

With Wordpress constantly updating their software, many themes are becoming obsolete.  Sadly, my original theme is one of those dinosaurs!  So, after spending way too much time searching for a new theme, and even going as far as setting up a test site just to try out different themes and see if I liked the way they looked, I have found a theme I like.

And, like all new things on the Web, it’s “under construction”!   The pictures on the upper right hand side of my header will soon be replaced with photographs of my own choosing, but for now, please enjoy the ones that came with the theme.  Every time you re-load my blog, a new photo will display.  Yeah, I’m gonna have some fun with that!

I am not too crazy about the “Category Tabs” at the top, and will be working on figuring out how to change or possibly delete them. (Update:  I have already deleted them!) I am also considering adding a “Wall” and maybe a Poll or two.  I do hope that everybody likes it . . . I’ve threatened to change my theme for a long time now, and everybody I’ve mentioned it to has begged me not to, but sometimes you just gotta keep up with the times!  Please let me know if you find anything weird or glitchy, so I can try to fix it.  Thanks bunches!

I really do like WordPress, and apparently, I’m not alone. The USCCB (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) has a blog covering Pope Benedict XVI’s apostolic journey to the United States. How cool is that??

Lots of helpful info there, check it out: USCCB’s Papal Visit Blog

I have written poetry for myself for most of my life, and it has always amazed me when somebody liked anything I’ve written, so I have to say that I am incredibly honored that Rodger Sellers, Pastor of the Portico Presbyterian Church over in Charlotte not only found and read the poem I wrote, “into your way of peace“, but he liked it so much that he posted it in his Lenten Blog!  Wow.

I have read some of the most recent posts on that Lenten Blog, and I really like what I’ve read!  I very highly recommend the post “A Negative Times A Negative Equals A Positive?“.  It is excellent, and makes such a powerful point about the nature of repentance.

I just discovered that if you “Google” the phrase “March for Life 08″, my blog comes up as the fourth listing!  Wow. . . could this be my moment of fame?

Here’s the update for now on the March:  there were over half a million marchers, including Kendall and Alex.  Alex forgot to take the camera we sent with him to the march, so we are just going to have to take his word for what he saw.  Kendall took his camera, and promises that he got some pictures of both the Belmont Abbey College group and the St. Barnabas group.  He also got a picture of Alex, but for some reason didn’t manage to get a picture of himself with Alex.  I’m not going to try to figure that one out.  Not being a teenage boy I’m not sure I’d understand anyway.

On a random note, I am starting to think evil thoughts about Adobe Software again.  Their programs are excellent, but they are so restrictive with licensing that it makes me want to scream!  I am the editor of our homeschool support groups Yearbook.  We have roughly 300 families in our group, and about a third of them participate in the yearbook.  Last year, we earned enough in advertising and yearbook sales to buy the latest version of Adobe InDesign CS3.  But it only came with two activations!  So only two of us can use it, making it very frustrating for several people to be able to work on the yearbook simultaneously, which had been my hope.

After calling Adobe and asking about their “Volume Licensing” program, I am almost tempted to used PrintShop or some other cheap program. Each additional ‘license’ costs $200 for non-profits, or, if we bought a minimum of 10 additional licenses, under their ‘educational licensing’, then it would only be $160/license.  Ha!  As homeschoolers,most of us are already on a shoestring budget, having sacrificed that second income to be able to stay home and educate our own children.  We simply don’t have that kind of spare cash laying around.

Okay, I’m done.  I will come down off of my soapbox now.  If anybody has any spare Adobe InDesign CS3 programs that they are trying to get rid of, let me know.  I could use them!

Check back in a day or two for more details on Alex’s experience at the March for Life and the Holocaust Museum.

Well, I went to see the surgeon this afternoon, and he took my bandages off and discharged me! Yay! I am glad to have them gone, but they did come in handy at one point. I was sitting around talking to Kendall and Gaylon, who were having a friendly debate over who had the worst and most wounds. So I sat there and listened to them for a while, then lifted my shirt up, displaying my ugly, blood-stained bandages, and said “Oh, yeah, guys?? Beat this!!” Yep. . .I won that one!

For free entertainment, we having been watching Faith’s new kitten, Bandit, chase the other cats and Bonnie around the house and try to attack them. It is so funny to watch him! He is this little black puff of fearless fur! Waldo Pepper took a new approach, and just sat on him. I think that should win some sort of award for most random act of heroism!!

In other news, I forgot to mention that Gaylon has gone back to school again. He is now working toward a Business Management Degree. I definitely admire his determination! It does keep him down in his office a lot more, but I do get a kick out of listening to him complain about things like “Moodle”, for his online class!

I have been updating this site bit-by-bit, and have now added pages on Homeschooling and Genealogy. (Subject to change soon). There are some pictures on the Homeschooling page, and I am hoping to add some pictures to the Genealogy page before too long, as well. But that involves uninterrupted scanning, so that may take a while longer. Check back!!

It’s only halfway through the first month of the new year, and a lot has happened already. On the 3rd, I had gallbladder surgery. It went well, and the only problem I had afterward was with my tongue! Apparently they pinched it when they intubated me, and it HURT! Seems better now, and I no longer sound like I have cleft palate. I think the best thing about having surgery is that everyone expects and encourages you to sleep for a few days afterward. I can always sleep!! On the 9th I had more dental work done, which I hate. But since the root canal right before Christmas, at least I’m not having the migraines anymore. Just a couple of days after my surgery, Faith’s hamster, Autumn, died. We had had her for about a year and a half, so she lived a fairly long time for a hamster, but that didn’t make it any easier. Then on the 10th, Gaylon’s work truck apparently had a mind of it’s own, the emergency brake released, and it rolled down our driveway, hit a tree and totaled itself. *sigh* On the minor side of things, Kendall got a fairly nasty chemical burn at work, but the good news is that it missed his eye by half an inch! He has laughed it off saying that now he has that rugged, dashing look!

But we are all still remarkably hopeful that 2008 will be a great year. I finally took the plunge and got my own web domain (which, if you are reading this, you probably already know!) and am having a lot of fun playing with themes and designs and widgets. I am using a new blogging platform, which has been a source of some frustration, but once I get it figured out, I’m sure it will be wonderful.

I still have my old website, because it’s free, but for the most part, by the time I’m done (if one can ever truly be ‘done’ playing with a website/blog) I will have moved all the information from there to here, as well as from my blog to here, and it will all be in one convenient place. Sadly, none of my family members are very interested in web design, or blogging, or figuring out scripts and protocols, so I’m on my own with this. But that’s okay, it gives me something to obsess over!

So, that’s the update. We are praying that the year improves, with no more mishaps, and that things will be much smoother from this point on. Please leave me a comment if you were here. I love hearing from you. This will be updated a LOT over the next few weeks, as I continue learning more about this software and how to play with it and tweak it to suit my needs.

Well, I finally have some down time!  Kendall is in Virginia visiting his girlfriend; Alex and Faith are both at camp until the 29th.  So the house is quiet, and I have had time to do lots of stuff that I generally don’t get around to.  Like my blog!  I have been playing with it today.  I changed the "Theme" and "Layout", and have also uploaded a new photo album featuring pictures from Kendall’s graduation Mass and party.  Be sure to check it out!  I also added a "widget".  It is from 30 Boxes, and basically all it does it list upcoming birthdays, events, etc. in our lives.

This is the time of year when I start to be able to relax and breathe enough to look ahead to the coming school year.  For the first time in 13 years, I will not be teaching Kendall!  That’s really weird.  Alex will be taking most of his classes at Dayspring Tutorials (Algebra, Biology, Composition and Theory of Knowledge), but I plan to have him work through "Christ the King, Lord of History", a history text written from a Catholic perspective, which is refreshingly different from the secular and protestant texts available.

Faith and I will continue to use Catholic Heritage Curriculum, which is really sweet and fun, just like her!  It leaves us plenty of time to do the fun girly things we both love to do together, like crocheting, sewing, cooking, scrapbooking, gardening and home canning.  We are also about to embark on our third year of Girl Scouts, which we both really enjoy.

And speaking of gardening, when checking my plants this morning, I was swarmed by squash bugs!  They appear out of nowhere, and are everywhere!  So Gaylon and I declared war on them this afternoon.  I am determined to protect my little garden!  I already have a few small tomatoes growing, one jalapeno pepper, and a tiny little cucumber, about an inch long!  To me, there are not many things more healing and hopeful than a garden full of wonderful vegetables!  We also planted yellow crookneck squash, zucchini, carrots, and Kentucky Wonder pole beans.  Our little garden is only about 600 square feet, but it is our own little piece of paradise, and we love it!

In other news, Alex and Faith auditioned for the Hendersonville Youth Theater’s upcoming production of Peter Pan.  Faith actually only went along to watch Alex audition, but they talked her into reading some parts, too.  I got the phone call this morning that Alex landed the part of Captain Hook, and Faith will be playing Cookson the Pirate!  Since they are both at camp right now, they don’t know it yet!  We have to pick up their scripts and rehearsal schedules tomorrow morning at the library.  Rehearsals begin July 9th.  I think they’re both gonna have a blast!

For the rest of my ‘down time’, I am probably going to engage in some revolutionary activities, like mopping my wood floors (gasp!) starting some new crochet projects, and maybe sit around and watch old Bogart movies and M*A*S*H re-runs.  Mom and I will probably take in some weekday Masses, too.

I guess that’s about all the news that’s worth mentioning for now.  I hope all the Fathers had a wonderful Fathers’ Day.  Ours was nice and quiet, culminating with a quiet dinner with friends.  That’s always nice.