Category Archives: life

All About NerdMom

Recently it has come to my attention that I have real life people (that I know) who still don’t have any idea of who I am. Also it has come to my attention that many of you don’t know about my other blogs. So let us start at the beginning. My real name is Jackie Cromwell and ions ago was Jackie Little. I go to New Covenant Community Church in Fresno Ca.

Now the other blogs… Remember the are all having giveaways also!
NerdFamily Food
NerdFamily Things
Making Money, Keeping Money

Separately, here is my Cast of Characters:
NerdDad: My wonderful and loving husband
NerdBug: My eldest boy, who is now 6 years old
NerdPie: My sparkling little 4 year old girl
Nerdling: My cute 2 year old boy who is built like a linebacker
NerdPud: My 7 month old little girl. She is the Pud (short for Pudding) because she is the last course.

WFMW: Life & Focus Help

Yes, this is the secret, a notebook. I keep it around the house and in my purse. Then when a thought comes to me (about anything) I jot it down. This helps to make sure things aren’t missed (by forgetting it later) and helps me to focus on what I am doing. I don’t need to try to hold on to things while I am trying to do my Bible Study, play with my kids or out shopping. I have a spot for things to tell my husband, things to buy, things to study, etc. It has been a huge blessing! Try it and let me know what you think.

I Guess I Got What I Want and Deserve

So Friday we had a typical laid back day. We got up and did all out normal breakfast, chores, etc. Then we read Chapter 5 in Story of the World which is on the first unifying ruler in the Sumer area in Mesopotamia (Argon). With in the chapter it briefly introduced the concept of Military Dictatorship, which is how Argon ruled his new country. They loosely go this concept and I told them we could talk about it later.

So we all go get on shoes and go to Costco so we can take advantage of getting in early (with our Executive Membership). One of the nice things about going at this time is there is almost no one there and the kids get cookies. So we eat our cookies and are cruising the aisles and NerdBug brings up Military Dictatorship. So we start talking about it. NerdPie then asks if Argon is still there as a country. Then are there still Military Dictatorships? As we are walking through the store I see people staring. Then the Nerdling (2 1/2) starts saying, rather loudly (but not yelling), military dictatorship over and over. People were staring and not in a good way. So I try to change the subject to the alphabet and songs, didn’t work. Then 1 couple says quietly, “Do you homeschool?” To which I say yes and keep walking. Then another woman that I had seen in a couple of aisles asks also. I say yes. Then she engages me in a conversation about what are we studying and other such details. She is looking for supplemental materials for her very bright kids that are in public school.

All I could think through the whole trip is, “Couldn’t you guys keep you nerdiness at home?” Then it hit me, this is what I always wanted and how I raised them to be. Sure, we are a little different but should them wanting knowledge that seems to be above them really be a bad thing? I helped make them this way. That is the joy of homeschool, you sometimes get just what you really want;).

(Now, in telling part of this story at my Growing Kids God’s Way Class tonight I was told I am definitely living up to my blog name;)

Costco Gas

Well, here is just a quick post post for anyone in the Fresno area. Gas at the Clovis Costco was only $2.99 a gallon about 10am this morning! If you have time and are in the area, Go Fill Up! Who knows how long such a good deal will be going. It is the first time I have seen it under $3 in a while.

Technorati Tags: Fresno,, gasoline,, Costco

Martha’s vs Homeschool Mom’s Way

Now that Christmas is over and I am dealing with the trauma of everything not being all pulled together and neat. I needed a little pick me up! I found this over at Ann Zeise’s humor page. Thanks Ann!

Martha’s vs Homeschool Mom’s Way

Martha’s way #1: Stuff a miniature marshmallow in the bottom of a sugar cone to prevent ice cream drips.

Homeschool Mom’s Way: Just suck the ice cream out of the bottom of the cone, for Pete’s sake; you are probably lying on the couch with your feet up eating it anyway.

Martha’s way #2: Use a meat baster to “squeeze” your pancake batter onto the hot griddle and you’ll get perfectly shaped pancakes every time.

Homeschool Mom’s Way: Buy the precooked kind you nuke in the microwave for 30 seconds. The hard part is getting them out of the plastic bag.

Martha’s way #3: To keep potatoes from budding, place an apple in the bag with the potatoes.

Homeschool Mom’s Way: Buy Hungry Jack mashed potato mix and keep it in the pantry for up to a year.

Martha’s way #4: To prevent eggshells from cracking, add a pinch of salt to the water before hard-boiling.

Homeschool Mom’s Way: Who cares if they crack, aren’t you going to take the shells off anyway?

Martha’s way #5: To get the most juice out of fresh lemons, bring them to room temperature and roll them under your palm against the kitchen counter before squeezing.

Homeschool Mom’s Way: Sleep with the lemons in between the mattress and box springs.

Martha’s way #6: To easily remove burnt-on food from your skillet, simply add a drop or two of dish soap and enough water to cover bottom of pan, and bring to a boil on stovetop.

Homeschool Mom’s Way: Eat at Chili’s every night and avoid cooking.

Martha’s way #7: Spray your Tupperware with nonstick cooking spray before pouring in tomato based sauces and there won’t be any stains.

Homeschool Mom’s Way: Feed your garbage disposal and there won’t be any leftovers.

Martha’s way #8: When a cake recipe calls for flouring the baking pan, use a bit of the dry cake mix instead and there won’t be any white mess on the outside of the cake.

Homeschool Mom’s Way: Go to the bakery. They’ll even decorate it for you.

Martha’s way #9: If you accidentally over salt a dish while it’s still cooking, drop in a peeled potato and it will absorb the excess salt for an instant “fix me up”

Homeschool Mom’s Way: If you over salt a dish while you are cooking, that’s too damn bad. My motto: I made it and you will eat it and I don’t care how bad it tastes.

Martha’s way #10: Wrap celery in aluminum foil when putting in the refrigerator and it will keep for weeks.

Homeschool Mom’s Way: Celery? Never heard of the stuff.

Martha’s way #11: Brush some beaten egg white over pie crust before baking to yield a beautiful glossy finish.

Homeschool Mom’s Way: The Mrs. Smith frozen pie directions do not include brushing egg whites over the crust and so I don’t do it.

Martha’s way #12: Place a slice of apple in hardened brown sugar to soften it.

Homeschool Mom’s Way: Brown sugar is supposed to be “soft”?

Martha’s way #13: When boiling corn on the cob, add a pinch of sugar to help bring out the corn’s natural sweetness.

Homeschool Mom’s Way: The only kind of corn I buy comes in a can.

Martha’s way #14: To determine whether an egg is fresh, immerse it in a pan of cool, salted water. If it sinks, it is fresh, but if it rises to the surface, throw it away.

Homeschool Mom’s Way: Eat, cook, or use the egg anyway. If you feel bad later, you will know it wasn’t fresh.

Martha’s way #15: Cure for headaches: Take a lime, cut it in half and rub it on your forehead. The throbbing will go away.

Homeschool Mom’s Way: Martha, dear, the only reason this works is because you can’t rub a lime on your forehead without getting lime juice in your eye, and then the problem isn’t the headache anymore, it is because you are now blind.

Martha’s way #16: Don’t throw out all that leftover wine. Freeze into ice cubes for future use in casseroles and sauces.

Homeschool Mom’s Way: Leftover wine?

Martha’s way #17: If you have a problem opening jars: Try using latex dishwashing gloves. They give a non slip grip that makes opening jars easy.

Homeschool Mom’s Way: Go ask the very cute neighbor to do it.

Martha’s way #18: Potatoes will take food stains off your fingers. Just slice and rub raw potato on the stains and rinse with water.

Homeschool Mom’s Way: Mashed potatoes will now be replacing the anti-bacterial soap in the handy dispenser next to my sink.

Martha’s way #19: Now look what you can do with Alka Seltzer.

§ Clean a toilet. Drop in two Alka-Seltzer tablets, wait twenty minutes, brush and flush. The citric acid and effervescent action clean vitreous china.

§ Clean a vase. To remove a stain from the bottom of a glass vase or cruet, fill with water and drop in two Alka-Seltzer tablets.

§ Polish jewelry. Drop two Alka-Seltzer tablets into a glass of water and immerse the jewelry for two minutes.

§ Clean a thermos bottle. Fill the bottle with water, drop in four Alka-Seltzer tablets, and let soak for an hour (or longer, if necessary).

Homeschool Mom’s Way: Put your jewelry, vases, and thermos in the toilet. Add some Alka-Seltzer and you have solved a whole bunch of problems at once.

Two Different Versions! Two Different Morals!

I got this from my friend Heather. Normally, I don’t encourage such thing but I really liked this one.

OLD VERSION:

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building
his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and
plays the summer away.

Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed.
The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Be responsible for yourself!

———————————————————————

MODERN VERSION:

The ant works ha rd in the withering heat all summer long,
building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances
and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and
demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well-fed while
others are cold and starving.

CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the
shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable
home with a table filled with food. Americans are stunned by the sharp
contrast.

How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor
grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper, and
everybody cries when they sing, “It’s Not Easy Being Green.”

Jesse Jackson stages a demon stration in front of the ant’s house
where the news stations film the group singing, ‘We shall overcome.’
Jesse then has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper’s
sake.

Nancy Pelosi & John Kerry explain in an interview with Larry King
that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and
both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair
share.

Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity & Anti-Grasshopper
Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer.

The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs
and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is
confiscated by the government.

Hillary gets her old law firm to represent the grasshopper in a defamation
suit against the ant, and the case is tried before a panel of federal judges
that Bill Clint on appointed from a list of
single-parent welfare recipients.

The ant loses the case.

The story ends as we see the grasshopper finishing up the last
bits of the ant’s food while the government house he is in, which
just happens to be the ant’s old house, crumbles around him because
he doesn’t maintain it.

The ant has disappeared in the snow.

The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident and the
house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who
terrorize the once peaceful neighborhood.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Be careful how you vote

Music Choice and Devo 2.0

So a new thing on TIVO is Music Choice. You can choose specific videos and download them onto the Tivo. I have been surprised of the amount of Christian videos and very happy about it. But NerdDad and I also saw Whip it! by Devo 2.0 and had to give it a go. While it isn’t THAT bad, it is pretty corny. NerDad said that they must be rolling over in their graves. When I said I didn’t think they were dead yet, he said they were probably dieing of embarrassment;). View it for yourself and tell me what you think!