"Doomsday Preppers"

I don’t know if any of you have seen the show “Doomsday Preppers” on the History Channel, but it is pretty ridiculous.  As described in the show’s title, this show is about people preparing for an apocalypse.  Before watching this show, I assumed that it was people preparing for 2012 doomsday type stuff.  However, the people on this show all have different theories about how the world is going to end and they are all preparing for something strangely specific such as the poles shifting, an oil crisis, a financial crisis.  Someone even said they were preparing for a power outage (and I was like, “Really?” You think a power outage is the end of the world?).

If I believed the world was going to end, I would not want to spend the last moments of my life obsessively preparing for an event that may or may not occur.  I feel sorry for these people because they are wasting all of their time and days with what sounds more like OCD than preparations. 

However, there is something to be said for having a “just in case” plan.  I would certainly not recommend doing what they do on that show.  But you can live a normal life and at the same time still be prepared for an emergency.  Here are a few ways:

1.    Know how to hunt.  The best way to survive would be to live in an area where you can already hunt on your own property.  That way, you wouldn’t have to uproot yourself in case of an emergency.

2.    Know how to garden.  Once again, the best thing to do would be to already have a garden before an incident happens.  This also requires living somewhere where you can have a garden.

3.     Have a heat source/cooking source that does not require electricity.  Whenever I buy a house, I intend to have a wood-burning stove in it.  However, this could be as simple as having a grill in your backyard or a Dutch oven.  You need to know how to prepare food without electricity. 

4.    Know how to preserve food.  Try to learn and practice canning.  Canning would be your best bet for a lot of stuff.  Collect mason jars, look up how to can and practice.  Know how to salt meat.  Also read up on burying for preservation, or other methods such as drying.

5.    Any one of us could stop buying clothes right now and still have enough clothing to last the rest of our lives, but it may be helpful to learn how to mend clothes by hand sewing so that the clothes you already have will last.

6.    Be well educated in basic first aid.

7.    Make sure you have a self-defense plan for intruders, such as the guns you already have for hunting.  ;)

8.    Hope to my goodness that the apocalypse you are preparing for isn’t a nuclear disaster, in which case, even if you survive, you will not be able to do any of the above. 

For the project of the day, I am working a winter ear-muff headband.  It simultaneously can look cute and keep your ears warm in winter.  For all one color, just cast on approximately 10-13 stitches (depending on how wide you want it).  I am alternating colors on mine.  Keep knitting back and forth until it measures the right length around your head.  Some knitters measure there heads first, but I’m more or less a “see how it goes” type knitter.  Cast off when it is the right length, then darn the ends together with matching yarn. 

I am not done yet, but here are the beginnings of my headband.

A Personal Decision

The decision to either stay home or put your children in childcare and go to work after having a baby (or a few) is a personal decision a couple must decide on themselves.  But if you are struggling with this decision, let me help you out on the benefits and disadvantages or each decision.

Going to Work:

First of all, if you don't mind going to work, you have to do some calculations first.  Will the money you make be profitable to you after you deduct the cost of childcare? That is the #1 question to ask yourself before going to work.

In the case that going to work is profitable to you, there are some benefits.  Obviously, one of the benefits is having extra money of your own without having to constantly as your husband for some. The biggest benefit is the feeling of having your own life and accomplishments.  Stay at home moms can at times feel as though even though they are working very hard, they have no appreciation from others or personal accomplishments of their own.  Working can restore that feeling that you have your own life.  A huge disadvantage associated with working is that it can actually feel like you are living two full time lives, or that you are working two full time jobs instead of one.

Childcare can be very beneficial for children.  Children learn social skills very early and receive an education at this crucial time when their brains are developing most.  Children who wait to even go to preschool later (at age 3 or 4) or kindergarten have a much more difficult time in school.  As a former childcare worker, I can tell the children who are just beginning preschool and the ones that have been in it since a baby or toddler.  They end up doing very well in school.

Staying Home:

Staying at home has its advantages, where you simply choose to or realize working will not be profitable enough to make it worth it.  The biggest benefit with this is that you know that your children are in excellent care in your own arms and not in the arms of strangers you only sort of know.  You get to spend quality time with your children. You may not even worry about your child getting a good education, because you are their personal teacher and tutor.  Children of stay at home moms have the potential of doing excellent in school as long as the stay at home mom is educating them in the home.  Also, as a stay at home mom, you have more time to keep your home in order.  Working moms may have chaotic, messy homes, and if they don't, it is probably because they are sacrificing sleep to take care of it.

There are disadvantages such as having to rely on your husband's money and not your own.  As I mentioned earlier, some stay at home moms can feel like they don't have a life of their own. But truly, many stay at home moms feel lucky that they can be with their children when their children need them.
Please comment and let me know what decision you have made regarding this, and how your decision is important to you.  My mom was at times a stay at home mom and at times a working mom.  At times, she did both and worked from home.  I hope to stay at home, but also to work on the side whenever I become a mom. 

For my project of the day, I have made soap!  This soap is white glycerin based with red dye, and cinnamon scent.  Glycerin is very good for your skin, and the dyes I use are safe for the skin too. 

Here is my soap in the mold after melting it down and mixing in the ingredients.  It is hardening.

Here is my finished soap.  Smells awesome.

Bi-lingual Education Advocacy

Usually, I discuss things vaguely having to do with women and history.  But in actuality, I simply write what I am passionate about.  Truly, I will not digress from my main topic of writing on this blog very much, but I have a lot to say about the following subject

I would love for you to post your opinion on this issue.  I have always thought it was sad that several of my students are fluent in both Spanish and English, but since they have been in an American school since kindergarten, have only learned to read and write in English.  Many of my fluent Spanish speakers that speak Spanish in the home cannot read or write in Spanish at all.  The phonics are different, and the alphabet is different.  Recently, several parents have expressed this as a lament, that their children cannot read and write in their native language. 

Let me just say that I realize the parents came to America voluntarily and are in our school systems.  But since coming to America, they have to work hard to make living and may not have the education or resources to teach their children Spanish at home.  Their children are not the ones that made the choice to come here, but they are, and because of a language barrier are falling behind.
If you were a parent with your children in another country, would you not want them to learn your own native language? 

There is an elementary school in Lexington, KY that has bilingual education for American children.  Half of their day is taught in English and half in Spanish.    This is Maxwell Elementary, close to UK's campus in Lexington.  This seems like a great idea to me.  I know it will never happen anywhere in my school system, but something that may be more realistic that might help these students are perhaps tutoring sessions to learn to read and write in Spanish after school.  Or perhaps Spanish could be one of the "Specials" schools offer, similar to Music and Art. 

I've been considering starting a Spanish Club to help the children learn Spanish.  But the unfortunate thing is that I can only influence my own school system.  I wish other school systems would acknowledge this issue better. I would also highly recommend Rosetta Stone.  I use it in the classroom for kids trying to learn English, but it also helps when you're learning any language.

This is just something I'm wondering about and was thinking maybe I could get your opinion on the issue.  Being a bilingual person can yield many opportunities later on, especially with jobs, but if a student can't read or write in their native language, what good does it do them?
I haven't posted in about a week, because I have been working on putting together my webpage for the schools system in which I work.  So today, I do not have a project of the day, because my this week's project has been this:

Here is My Professional Webpage

Just scroll down to view what I have put on the school website.  It is not much, just basically an overview for parents to see exactly how I'm helping their children in the public schools. 

If you have further interest in what I do in public schools, here is my school profile. 

Before I die....

More and more, you hear people talking about what is on their "bucket list." You hear it more in my generation, ironically enough. The Baby Boomer generation, while ambitious, has a different perception of success more related to possessions than experiences. Generation X is a bit more practical, focusing on having enough, good investments, and a safety net for hard times. I am part of Generation Y. We were brought up my dreams, imagination, fiction, and Disney. We were told we could be whatever we wanted to be. Put into practice, fantasy crumbles in the real world...but not entirely. We can still pocket amazing experiences that makes us feel like the dream can be reality.

Some people have many things in common on their bucket list, such as marriage, children, world travel, owning a dream house, etc. These goals are no different than our previous generations. My generation has personalized their lists a bit more. Go to bucketlist.org/featured and you will read goals that inspire you, and some that you think are strange such as:Be an extra in a movie, milk a cow, visit the Louvre, plant a tree, see a Cirque de Soleil show, drink absinthe, fly first class, visit every continent, visit New York City at Christmas time!, experience an earthquake, eat sushi in Japan, go snorkeling, be part of a Flash Mob, rescue a dog/cat from animal shelter, visit San Fransico, go Scuba Diving, pay for a strangers groceries, cross the intersection at Abbey Road, nnuggle in a hammock, see the Grand Canyon, see a Broadway musical, go whale watching, capture lightning in a photograph, spend the night in an underwater hotel, be kissed on top of a ferris wheel.

I have a lengthy bucket list. Many things on it, I have already done. I have traveled to 5 countries outside the U.S. I've been on a cruise. I've seen most states (I'd like to see the rest). I've been skydiving. I had my dream wedding.  I am learning to play the violin. I've had my dream jobs (education, living history museum, and now translation). But I still have so much left to do. The things I lack, however, don't bother me. Because I know I'm doing all I can to make the most of my life *right now.* I am incredibly happy. If I died now, I'd feel okay that I lived a wonderful life. If I continue to live, I will feel elated to get to spend more time on this earth and have even more wonderful experiences.

So what is the first step? Make a list. Second step? Don't focus on what you lack. Focus on what you've acheived. Every day you get to live, be happy you have another chance to mark somethiing off the list, but don't let it bother you if you haven't yet. Be happy here and now.Comment to tell me a few things on your bucket list.


 Last week, I went to Louisville to celebrate my aunt's and my uncle's birthdays, and I made them some coasters! That is the Project of the Day. If you read a few entries ago and saw the baby blanket, it's made just like that, only wayyyyyyyyyy smaller. If you already knit, then just cast on 4, increase to 23, then decrease back down to 4. If you are more of a beginner than that, or need more instructions, comment and I'll elaborate.

My coasters