Author: Karen

Hi! My day job is a CMA in the Precertificiation Department (I work with insurance companies). I'm a mom to two young men. I've been married to the same man for 34 years. I have a lot to say about nothing. Lucky you.
Monday Stuff

Worth Mentioning …

Karen

Monday Mentions is an easy way to share any and all of the fun things you’ve discovered recently, online or otherwise. For more information read this post by the mastermind behind this whole thing, Jen @ Daily Mish Mash. Here’s what I’ve discovered this week…

1. So the Amazon book store thing is going well …

I’ve sold eight books so far – not bad for only being “in business” a little over a week.

Though I don’t have any illusions of getting rich off this book store, it IS nice to be able to sell my books to people who actually want them. This whole book store thing is still an experiment, but if I continue selling books, then I’m definitely going to start getting pro-active about adding more books to my inventory. And if that means hitting yard sales, and of COURSE the bi-annual library book sales, then I will do it.

It’s all for a good cause, after all. 🙂

2. I just had the weirdest thing happen.

Well, weird and creepy.

Dude’s ’99 Cavalier is parked in our backyard. We want to build a garage but right now, we don’t have the funds to build that garage. So, there she sits all by her lonesome.

And here I sit, writing to you all, waiting to go pick up the boys from school, when the doorbell rings.

I ignore it. I always ignore the doorbell, one, because if you didn’t call first? All bets are off as far as me stopping what I’m doing and talking to you. And two, I’m by myself and HELLO creepy person confronting a woman, by herself, at home.

I’m pretty dense, but even I know that can be a stupid move.

After some time passed, I went to the door, expecting to see a delivery. Because most of the time, that’s who is ringing our doorbell – the UPS/FedEx guy.

I open the door – no package. But there is a sticky note stuck to my front door. The guy wrote something about if we wanted to sell the Cavalier, regardless of whether it was working or not, to give him a call.

Um … no. That’s our son’s car and it’s not going anywhere. But I can understand why he might have thought we wanted to sell it – it’s parked in our backyard and DOES look like we’re trying to sell it.

But here’s the really creepy part. I get up from my desk and I see the back door ALSO has a sticky note on it. Same message, same guy. But um … the back door. Which means he had to walk all the way around our house and stick it there. Front door. Okay. Back door? Dude, you’re trespassing. And the part that irritates/embarrasses me? He HAD to have seen me sitting at my desk because I’m right there, in plain sight.

He must have thought I was so rude.

Well, I AM rude. But still … awkward!

3. I was updating school websites this morning … because that’s my day job, and I was trying to locate a graphic for a pair of jeans (don’t ask), when I stumbled onto this picture.

I’d post it here, but honestly? It offends me so much that I can’t bring myself to actually do it.

And here I go, back on my soapbox again …

Look. Ladies. I get pretty sick and tired of listening to ya’ll bitch and moan about how men need to stop oogling and staring and treating you like a sex object when you CLEARLY want that to happen.

Why would I say that? Why would anyone wear something like this and think it WON’T happen??

If you want to be taken seriously, if you want men to respect you and stop looking at you like a sex object, then for the love of God, don’t wear slutty clothes like this.

Sheesh. Am I the only one who understands this concept? Because I’m beginning to think so!

4. My laptop crashed, which meant my iTunes library went *POOF*, and disappeared. I don’t know about you? But AARGGH!! This is like twice this has happened to me. The first time, I spent an entire day putting all of my CD’s back into my iTunes library AND dummy me, I didn’t keep a backup of the songs I purchased through Apple, so in essence, I lost those songs. (I could have contacted Apple about that, and I’m sure they would have allowed me to get copies of those songs, but Ugh. There were only a few and quiet honestly? I didn’t feel like jumping through hoops, which you sometimes have to do when you deal with big, controlling corporations like that).

But this time, THIS TIME, I got smart. I have nearly 1,100 songs on my iPod and OMG, I did not relish the thought of having to put all of those songs back on, so I started doing a little research.

If you have anything BUT an iPod Touch or Phone, you can plug your iPod into your computer and it will recognize it as a hard drive. You can then manually copy folders onto your computer, and then import them back into iTunes and SNAP, your songs are back into your iTunes. But this is only if you’re comfortable with file management. And if you’re not, or, like me, you have an iTouch or an iPhone, you can use programs like Copy Trans. (If you want to know more about the file management option, this is a good place to start reading about it).

Copy Trans will take the songs off your iPod, put them on your computer, and then turn around and import them into your iTunes with one click of a button. They offer a free download, so you can try it, but it’s only good up to 100 songs. If you want to import any more than that, you have to pay $20 for a full license.

So, I thought I’d give them a shot. I mean, time is money and it’s worth it to me not to have to blow a whole day just to put my music back on … so, I tried it.

I downloaded the program, installed it, plugged in my iPod and it recognized my Touch immediately. All I had to do was click one button and it did it’s job.

Seamless and incredibly easy. The whole process took about 25 minutes. Which beats the HOURS I would have spent doing the same thing manually.

You can also customize what you want transferred and there are various other functions available, but I since that’s all I wanted from the program, that’s all it gave me.

I recommend using the program. You won’t find an option to transfer your music FROM your iPod TO your computer from Apple, you’ll have to use a third party. And if you’re needing something like that done, I recommend Copy Trans.

(Remember. I don’t do sponsored posts – I was not compensated to talk about Copy Trans in any way).

5. Snuggies for Geeks.

Seriously. Click on the link. You will laugh. Then come back here and tell me which one you liked the most.

6. If you dropped it on the floor, should you eat it?

Here’s a flow chart to help you decide.

7. This photo made me laugh.

We’re totally doing this the next time we’re on a beach.

In about five years. 😀

Life

The Boys Take Their Future By the Tails

Karen

Scheduling

The boys and I spent a good three hours working on their school schedules for next year yesterday …

Oh wait, that was last year. This year, it took us all of thirty minutes.

The counselors had a meeting with the kids this past week and discussed their schedules with them. They took them in groups, so even though the boys sort of knew what to do, they didn’t have one-on-one instruction.

Which worked out fine, because judging by their selections? They did just fine on their own.

Dude and I really struggled with his schedule last year. And it was mainly because he simply didn’t want to schedule himself for the classes that he HAD to take, let alone any extras. And the extras he wanted to take? Well, there weren’t any. He wanted to take classes that didn’t require any brain thought, at all. He just wanted to show up, maybe turn in a paper or two that AT MOST took him five minutes to complete and call it a day.

So, to say we went round and round on his classes would be putting it mildly. He wasn’t interested, he didn’t care and he kept asking me what I thought, which I refused to tell him because I was simply there to guide him, I wasn’t there to tell him what direction to take his future.

He would have to eventually figure that out on his own.

It was a struggle and neither one of us enjoyed the experience. By the time we had “agreed” on a schedule, we were both pretty raw and on edge.

But this year? Totally and completely different.

Dude already had his schedule done by the time he brought it home to show me for approval.

I didn’t change one class. I thought he did a really nice job of rounding out his choices between practical, required and desired courses.

Here’s what he ended up taking his senior year:

P.E. (which is really a weight-lifting class)
English IV
Lit of the Bible
Integrated Algebra II
Environmental Chemistry
Earth/Space Science
Astronomy
The Holocaust
Economics
Accounting I
Web Design

His two backup classes? (In case his primary choice is not available)

Meteorology
Physics I

The only class he was required to take was English IV. Everything else? Icing on the cake. And he picked all of these classes – I simply approved his choices. I was going to comment that I was specially pleased by the Lit of the Bible course, but quite honestly? I’m pleased with all of his selections. I think it’s a well-rounded choice of interesting subjects and they obviously interest Dude since he picked them.

I did question him about the Integrated Algebra II selection for you see, he’s done with math. He has met all of his requirements. But he chose that class because the Algebra II class he had this past semester, well, he didn’t do very well in it. And I think he’s a bit disappointed with himself, if you want the truth. He said he wanted to try again, only take a slightly easier class, perform better, get a better grade and hopefully sort of negate the grade he got for Algebra II. He said he didn’t feel like he learned a lot about the subject and he knew that would eventually hurt him when he went to college.

I can’t tell you how proud I was to hear him say that. Granted, he might have been saying all of that stuff because he felt like it was something we WANTED to hear, but it really doesn’t matter what his motives are, the fact that he thought them through and was willing to put himself through yet another grueling math class (math has always been so hard for him) was a true sign of maturity and I couldn’t be more proud of him.

So. Dude is set for his senior year. I keep telling him that next year will be HIS year. I just really want his senior year to be special, fun and something he looks back on with fond memories.

Jazz’s schedule was a bit more challenging. And again, he had already filled it out before he showed it to me so there wasn’t a lot to do. I did have to take off the Accounting course and put on a Science course (the Science course is required, the Accounting class is an elective and he can always take that later), but overall, again, I didn’t have to do much.

Since Jazz wants to schedule for Advanced Marching Band, Advanced Band and Jazz Band his remaining three high school years, it’s sort of a challenge to find room for all of the other courses he has to take and for the ones he wants to take. After thinking it through, it looks like he’ll end up taking Driver’s Ed this summer. Which works out better anyway since it’s an easy class and he’ll get it over with quickly.

I was also impressed with Jazz’s forethought. He is thinking he might like to go to college and major in accounting (like his father), so he’s already leaning more toward business classes. He wants to take Business Math his junior year and of course, the accounting class at some point.

I know Kevin will be tickled by his choices.

So, Jazz’s schedule for next year looks like this:

Advanced Marching Band
Advanced Band
Jazz Band
P.E.
English II
Integrated Algebra II
General Biology
World History
Foods / Nutrition

And his two backups:
Digital Communications
Business Principles / Management

Again, I did not pick these classes out. I simply read them the descriptions of the classes to ensure that they sounded like something the boys wanted to do.

The boys brought their transcripts home along with their scheduling paperwork and I must confess, okay, I must brag on them, they look pretty good. Dude does have that one, erhm, undesirable grade that is sort of a blemish on an otherwise nice transcript, but I think if he ends up taking this other math class and gets a decent grade in it, that will show anyone taking a look at his transcript that he didn’t give up, he rolled his sleeves back up and tried again.

I don’t know what I’ve done to be so blessed with such awesome children, but THANK YOU GOD. I just pray we continue on this path for the remaining high school years.

random stuff

What’s In a Name? Namely Mine

Karen

Wow, I’m impressed. This is absolutely, positively SPOT ON!


What Karen Means


You are a seeker of knowledge, and you have learned many things in your life. You are also a keeper of knowledge – meaning you don’t spill secrets or spread gossip. People sometimes think you’re snobby or aloof, but you’re just too deep in thought to pay attention to them.

You are usually the best at everything … you strive for perfection.
You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic “Type A” personality.

You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You’re always up to something.
You have a ton of energy, and most people can’t handle you. You’re very intense. You definitely are a handful, and you’re likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun.

You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone. You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together. At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together.

You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people. You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts. You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals.
Abundant Life

Teaching: Does God “Permit” Evil?

Karen

Every Sunday I provide videos and valuable links to the Truth or Tradition teachings. We’ve been following the Truth or Tradition teachings for many years now and they have truly blessed our family. We have found peace and happiness through our beliefs and we walk confidently for God. My hope, by passing on this information to you, is that what you find here, or on the Truth or Tradition website, will guide you to a better, more blessed and abundant life.

If you would like to read my views on religion and how we got started with the ministry, you can read this.

Let’s get started:

[This article was taken from the book Don’t Blame God! A Biblical Answer to the Problem of Evil, Sin, and Suffering.]

To some Christians (though not enough), it sounds too hideous to say something like “God killed your son,” when a child is run over by a bus. So they euphemistically say that God “allowed” the child to be run over by a bus. But can a logical mind make any distinction between the two? Ours do not, and we doubt if yours does either. If God could have stopped it, but instead allowed it, He necessarily shares the responsibility for the tragedy.

The Word of God also says that Satan is the one who now holds the power of death, that is, he is the ultimate cause of death. This is either directly, via evil spirit intervention, such as a spirit of murder causing one person to murder another, or indirectly, via one of the countless diseases he has introduced into the world.

Hebrews 2:14
Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil.

Suppose you are sitting in a restaurant visiting with two friends, Bill and Joe. Bill sees a guy with a lead pipe in his hand sneaking up behind you. He turns to Joe and asks, “How’s your family?” When you wake up, don’t you think you will blame Bill almost as much as you blame the guy who hit you with the pipe? Who can truly love a God who causes suffering, or one who could stop it, but just decides to “allow” it to happen?

In the beginning, as we have stated, God decided to “allow” or “permit” the possibility of evil in order to make possible an unforced response of genuine goodness and love. If something contrary to His will happens, it is because God cannot at that moment stop it without going against His own nature. How could that be? We believe there are three very good reasons. First, because although He is the most powerful One in the war, His righteous nature requires Him to act justly toward His formidable foe, the Devil. Second, He cannot usurp anyone’s personal freedom of will. Third, His justice requires Him to allow people to experience the consequences of disobedience.

To say that God cannot always stop evil flies in the face of many Christian people’s fatalistic concept of “the sovereignty of God,” [1] a phrase, by the way, not found in Scripture. To most Christians, this means that God is ruling over everything that happens, and is thus responsible for it all. Most Christians have also been taught that God is “omnipotent,” which according to Webster’s actually means “all powerful.” [2] Obviously God does not have all power, because Satan also has plenty. We believe that most Christians use the term “omnipotent” to mean that God has the most power and therefore can do whatever He wants. Although we certainly believe that God is the most powerful, we do not believe He can always do whatever He wants. As we have previously stated, He has limited Himself in His Word as to what He will and will not do.

Despite how much we may love to sing the verses of “Joy To The World” at Christmas time, there are a number of Scripture verses that indicate that the world is not yet subject to the rule of the Lord. [3]

For example:

1 Corinthians 15:24-26
(24) Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.
(25) For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
(26) The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

It is obvious from the above verses that there is some “dominion,” some “authority” and some “power” that is not yet subject to the Lord. Furthermore, it is obvious that death is an enemy of God, not a tool He uses, and that it is not yet destroyed. Another pertinent verse is in Hebrews chapter 10.

Hebrews 10:12 and 13
(12) But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.
(13) Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool.

Since Christ is now waiting for his enemies to become his footstool, it is obvious that at this time they are not under his subjection. But God is the most powerful and most wise one in the fight, and that means that human history as a whole will be resolved according to His will. The “whole” will be made up of the parts of human history— individuals — who chose to believe God’s Word and do His will.

In regard to God’s eventual victory, consider the analogy of a chess match between a World Chess Champion and the president of a high school chess club. Although the latter might capture a few of his opponent’s pieces and perhaps, to an untrained eye, even appear to gain the upper hand at some point, the outcome is never in doubt. No matter what the lesser player may do by the freedom of his will, the master player always has a superior strategy that will result in ultimate victory. Likewise, God need not stoop to manipulating His opponent in order to achieve His goals.

Hearing this truth may at first cause some Christians great consternation, and even feelings of helplessness. Perhaps this is because they have actually trusted more in fatalistic pre-determinism than in the love, power, ability and willingness of God to keep His promises regarding the present and the future. But wait a minute— think about the only alternatives:

(a) There is no God, your great-grandfather was a lizard and life is a “crapshoot.” Good luck!
(b) You are God. Good luck!
(c) There is a God Who determines everything that happens. He is able and willing to both help you and hurt you, and there are no guarantees which He will do, or when He will do it. Good luck!
(d) There is a God who once made a Paradise for man and Who has guaranteed for those who believe His Word that it will one day again be so. In the meantime, He and His Son are far more powerful than their (and your) enemy and they are doing their absolute best for you each day. You have God’s Word on it. You don’t need “luck.”

Which sounds best to you? When properly understood, this truth will for you result in greater love for God, greater hatred for the Devil and greater desire to obey God’s Word.

You can read the original article here.

I will not be silent anymore. It’s time we STOPPED blaming God when tragedy strikes.

If you have any questions, or would like to learn more about God’s wonderful message, please visit the Truth or Tradition website. You can also keep track of the ministry through their Facebook page, their YouTube Channel, or follow them on Twitter.

Thanks for reading.

(Comments have been turned off. The information is here to inform and bless you. God granted you the gift of free will – take it or leave it).

More from Write From Karen

Friday Fun

Friday Craft: Homemade Valentine Gifts

Karen

If there’s one thing I really miss from when my boys were in elementary school, it was the classroom Valentine parties. The kids had so much fun shopping for, and making out, the Valentine’s Day cards. And then, of course, making their Valentine’s Day boxes.

If you’re stumped for some ideas for your little one’s Valentine party this year, Family Fun has some neat projects.

Clap Happy

On February 14, your child can give his teacher a big round of applause and a little luxury: a tube of hand lotion.

Materials

* Card stock
* Marker
* Tube of lotion
* Double-sided tape

Instructions

1. Trace your child’s hand on card stock. Cut out the traced hand and use it as a template to make a second hand.

2. Write a message with marker. Affix the hands to a tube of lotion and add card stock hearts with double-sided tape.

Suggested Messages:
“You deserve a hand!”
“Hands down, you’re the best.”
“I’ve got to hand it to you!”

Clip Hearts

With these simple, message-bearing barrettes, Laura Stewart of El Mirage, Arizona, found an adorably useful way to tell the girls in her second-grade class, “We click!”

Materials

* Craft foam hearts (ours are 3/4 inch and 1 1/4 inches across)
* Hot glue
* Click-style barrettes (also known as contour clips)
* Scissors
* Colored card stock
* Marker

Instructions

1. Arrange two or three craft foam hearts as you like and hot-glue them together. (Draw and cut your own hearts, using our
templates, or check your craft store for precut foam hearts.)

2. Glue the hearts to the wide end of the hair clip and let the glue set.

3. Cut a heart from the card stock. Write your message on the heart, then clip the barrette to it.

Suggested messages:
Valentine, we click!
Our friendship is “hair” to stay
I (HEART SYMBOL) your friendship

Crayon Hearts

Wax romantic come Valentine’s Day. Gather crayon nubs and recycle them into swirly, useable valentines. We can’t think of a better way to say, “I melt for you.”

Materials

* Crayon pieces
* Heart-shaped metal cookie or muffin tin (our hearts are about 1 1/2 inches across)
* Scrap paper
* Double-sided foam mounting tape
* Scissors
* Colored card stock
* Marker

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 250°

2. Crayon Hearts – Step 2 Fill each mold with crayon pieces and bake until the crayons melt, about 10 to 15 minutes. Tip: Place a sheet pan under the crayons to catch any drips.

3. Crayon Hearts – Step 3 Once they’re cool, remove the hearts from the molds and smooth any rough edges by rubbing them on a piece of scrap paper.

4. Use small pieces of foam tape to stick each heart to a 3-inch circle cut from card stock — or use our template, then add your message.

Suggested messages:
You color my world
Valentine, you make my heart melt
Have a happy Valentine’s Day, for “crayon” out loud!

Friendship Blossoms

Here, two classic Valentine’s Day gifts — flowers and candy — combine to make one sweet treat.

Materials

* Scrapbooking paper or card stock
* Scissors
* Lollipops
* Tape

Instructions

1. For each, cut three heart-shaped petals, two leaves, and two flower centers from scrapbooking paper or card stock.

2. Poke a small hole in each, crease the petals as shown, and slide the pieces onto a lollipop stem. Tape the bottom to secure.

More messages:
You’re a sweet heart
Our friendship is blooming
Be my bud-dy

Scratch and Win

Everyone can hit the jackpot with these lottery-inspired valentines featuring messages hidden beneath scratch-off hearts.

Materials

* Metallic acrylic paint
* Dishwashing liquid
* Disposable container
* Foam brush
* Clear contact paper
* Templates
* Card stock
* Markers
* Glue
* 3-D paint pens

Instructions

1. To make 36 hearts, combine 2 tablespoons of metallic acrylic paint and 1 tablespoon of dishwashing liquid in a disposable container. With a foam brush, paint a thin coating of the mixture onto the nonadhesive side of a 13-inch square of clear contact paper. When the coating is dry, add two more coats, letting each dry thoroughly.

2. Next, download our templates. Print the Lucky Lotto page onto card stock and cut out the tickets. Using our heart template as a guide, cut hearts from the painted contact paper.

3. Write a message on the right-hand side of each ticket. Peel the backing from a painted heart and stick it in place over the note. If you like, glue each ticket to a 3- by 6-inch rectangle of card stock and decorate it with 3-D paint pens.

More messages:
You’re priceless
You’re a winner
Our friendship is worth a million bucks

Treat Transmitters

Personal robots may do our bidding in the future. But these adorable little inventions are already on the job, programmed to transmit Valentine’s Day messages.

Materials

* Template
* Card stock
* Double-sided tape
* Aluminum foil
* Candy

Instructions

1. To make one, download our template. Trace and cut the robot body from a piece of card stock, fold as shown, and secure it with double-sided tape.

2. Use more tape to add aluminum foil arms, candy eyes and feet, and other details, such as bar codes, if you like.

More messages:
U R GR8
B mine
I ♥ u

Captive Heart

Show Grandma you care with this keepsake. The red wire is very flexible, so she can extract the note and treat while keeping the ornament to remind her of her sweetheart.

Materials

* 16-inch length of 20-gauge silver craft wire
* Heart-shaped cookie cutter
* Wire cutters or nail clippers
* Red craft wire (24 gauge or higher)
* Heart-shaped note and treat
* Ribbon

Instructions (click for pictures)

1. To make the heart, bend the craft wire around a pencil to form a loop 4 inches from one end.

2. Center the loop atop a 2-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter, and wrap the wire around the heart, pressing to shape it.

3. After you’ve made 2 loops, twist the ends together and trim the excess with wire cutters or nail clippers.

4. Remove the cookie cutter, then secure one end of a 3-foot length of red craft wire (24 gauge or higher) to the heart.

5. Run the red wire across the heart’s front and back, wrapping it around the silver wire at each pass. Enclose a heart-shaped note and treatas you go.

6. Tuck in the end of the red wire and tie a ribbon through the loop for hanging.

You’ll find many more ideas here. Have fun!

More from Write From Karen