Turkey Cracks

Have you ever priced solid-surface countertops, like Corian and such? Don't. I have, and let me tell you it's not fun. No, I'm not trying to remodel the kitchen, now that we have no savings account. I have more wisdom than that.

But not as much wisdom as I would like, apparently.

I only wanted to make Turkey Soup. Is that too much to ask? I wouldn't think so. I was even carefully determining the days and foods for Hubby, so that said soup would be done on time, would be palatable, and wouldn't make him drop dead, like if a noodle got in.

We had one turkey left from last year. It was probably 45 pounds or so; definitely not a lightweight. It would not fit in the roaster. So I asked Hubby to saw it in half, because I thought half would probably fit. I should not have done that.

Hubby sawed.

The counter broke.

I don't know if it shows up in the picture below, but the break is reminiscent of a windshield ding. It has a center point, and 5 or 6 cracks and breaks radiating out from that point.

(and no, don't buy that brand of honey shown in the picture. Yuck.)

This is my beloved kitchen island. Thankfully, it is a stand-alone island and not the main along-the-wall counter. This island is about 27" wide and 6 1/2 feet long. A solid-surface guy a couple hours from here gave me a "ball park" figure of $600-800 to replace it. [choke, cough, sputter] JUST the countertop. Not installing it. I didn't even buy duct tape last time I had the opportunity because IT was too expensive. Of course, if I wasn't picky about color, they might have some "remnants" for somewhere around $450. Is that all? Walter, I wish we lived about 40 states closer. Maybe then you would be able to hook me up with a nice salvaged slab o' granite for a tenth of that price...

I HOPE to be able to hook up with the original maker of the counter. He is the brother of the guy who built this house, and his business is these counters. Is there such a thing as an "acquaintance-of-the-family discount" on a remnant? I'm not sure it would even be in the budget then. But boy, I SO don't want my kitchen held together with duct tape (or baling wire). Trust me, it's not like my standards are so high that I'm impossible to live with.

But in light of the price of replacing the counter, I might have to re-think the "duct-tape is too expensive" idea. That or try to convince the insurance that we felt that San Francisco quake at just the moment Hubby* was sawing the turkey.

*Just a thought: Can you insure a person? No, not like life-insurance, more like liability...?

Can You Tell I Want This Book?

The authors themselves are giving ten copies of this book away! It looks great. I WILL get one, whether or not I win one (but winning one would get it to me faster, I'm sure).

Here's hoping!

Wish List - Round Two!

Life In A Shoe is doing another Vision Forum giveaway drawing! Go check it out and enter (but let me win this time, please?).

Here's what I'd like to win:

So Much More
Family Man, Family Leader
Ten P's in a Pod
A Church in the House
Be Fruitful and Multiply
Raising Maidens of Virtue
Bugle (yep, the bugle)
Building a Family That Will Stand
Passionate Housewives Desperate for God!
and
Entrepreneurial Bootcamp DVD Collection

Here's hoping (praying?)!

Real Evil

Most (both?) of you have probably heard the newsflash a few days ago that J.K. Rowling announced that one of the characters in the Harry Potter books was gay.

I have not read the books.

I have not seen the movies.

I am not convinced that my children will become satanists if they read or watch Harry Potter. I'm not among those Christians who deem it inherently wicked and evil due to it's portrayal of magic and sorcery (remember though, I haven't read it). It certainly never struck me as anything that would edify, however, so I haven't planned to pursue it.

That has all changed.

When I heard the above newsflash, I was horrified. I have piles of problems with political correctness, so-called 'tolerance', and the State replacing parents, but this "out-ing" as it were, really rubbed me the wrong way. How dare they? How dare they produce and market and sell to our children, and then spring this? As I understand it, the character in point is a good, kind wizard. Maybe even a teacher-wizard or something. Did you know this is a stated technique to further social acceptance of this sexual deviancy? Yep, take that which is good, kind, smart, or wonderful in some way, and then (once those traits are recognized and accepted) assign a new label; gay. It's called 'conversion.' It manipulates the mind to associate gay with good. And while I find it annoying to see this method used upon me in the media, at least I am mature enough to recognize and refute it. I find it downright wicked, however, to witness this manipulation aimed so straightforwardly at our children. To me, THAT is the greatest threat I've seen from Harry.

I Just Like This Picture

Looking west from my back step, summer 2006.

Claim to Fame

It's happened again..! I've been noted in the annals of famous blogs. I guess that's a first, really. The last Amazing Thing was when famous bloggers visited AND COMMENTED here. But this time AtoS has shown up in the blogroll of Making Home! If you haven't clicked over there, you should. It's full of tons of Deep Thoughts. And I really admire her; she's young, but really tackles some big issues. I take on big issues, but I don't usually tackle them. Part of me is afraid I'll paint a spiritual target on myself . Like if I say "you raise kids this way" that'll guarantee that mine turn out terribly. But maybe I should address that particular problem of mine in another post...

In any case, I'm quite humbled, again. I'm sure these bloggers have much more better and important things to do than take notice of this silly blog (which most of the time serves solely as a journal of events for me). It gives me a feeling akin to what you see in movies when some lady brings her hand to her chest and gasps out, "Who, me? Why, thank you!" And I'm really so not like that.

In any case, Jess, if you ever happen to click this way and see this, you may discount the vote on your Christians Talking Sex poll that states "it's worldly and shouldn't be discussed" - I was so excited to see my blog on your list that I sent a link to my brother, who promptly wanted to skew your results...

SCHIP

I know, this is old news. It isn't happening (right now, at least). But I recently emailed my congressman, who tried to override the President's veto of this. That annoyed me. Why? Wouldn't we qualify under their new (or current!) standards for this children's health insurance plan? Sure we would. But I prefer freedom.

Let me explain... The idea of this Children's Health Insurance stuff is to provide the 'working poor' (families of four with an annual income of $60-some thousand [proposed] or less). How will this be paid? Taxes of course. And who pays taxes? Well, families with incomes of 60-some thousand, for starters! So basically they'll insure our kids if we pay for it. Oh, but we can't shop around, or choose not to buy it at all. And we all know what happens to prices and services when the government starts footing the bill... (anyone been to the DMV lately?). So ultimately they just want to take away my choice in the matter. And THAT really annoys me.

Here is what I wrote to my congressman:

I'm writing to express my disappointment with your vote to override the president's veto of this bill. The bottom line for me is that it would take away my choice... Instead of having the choice of insurance (or to choose to forego it), that choice is made for me, and then I AM TAXED to pay for it. How is that of any benefit? One month ago I gave birth at home with a midwife, and I don't have insurance. Were I paying for it (thru taxes or otherwise), I wouldn't have been able to use it. I and the baby were treated with all sorts of non-traditional things, from the herbs to help heal my tear, to the ointment for her belly button. These wouldn't have been covered by insurance, and I would have been paying twice for them. The other option is that Mother Government would be watching over my shoulder and approving or disapproving and overseeing every little thing, and that would be horrendously stupid (and take away even more choices). By the way, while my first two children were born at the hospital with great outcomes, this was the best birthing experience I've had. Had we been taxed extra to pay for insurance we wouldn't use, I might not have been able to afford this option. Please consider this next time you have a chance to represent us.

I know, this is more about *me* than my children, but the same principle applies.

One other related annoyance: Don't you just love how these dummies universal-healthcare-advocates throw around phrases like, "forty-million American children are denied healthcare." I'm sorry, isn't there some sort of rule or law that hospitals follow that states that no one will be denied healthcare due to race, religion, blah blah blah, or inability to pay...? I'm pretty sure that's been posted on the wall (in several languages, even) in every hospital room I've been in. So let's just stop with the whole "children-are-denied-healthcare" argument, shall we? What they mean is those "who don't have someone else to pay for their medical bills." We can't forget those "who don't have someone else to pay for their electric bills" or those "who don't have someone else to pay for their satellite or cell phone bills." Aren't those rights too? Though my cell company doesn't post that no one will be denied airtime due to inability to pay...!

What do you think?