lizardblog ( the blog of liz creech

December 30, 2008
What have we done and what do we think we are doing?

I couldn't think of a good title for what I wanted to talk about today. I am sure I have written on this before but not many people read my bog, nor after they read it will many agree. I seem to be in a minority of people who choose, or have chosen not to lie to their kids about Santa Clause. We have never "done" Santa in our house. It was for no other reason than we know it to be lying.

(HUGE GASPS AND SIGHS AND SHAKES OF HEADS!!!)

We have always had fun on Christmas morning without all the "what did Santa bring you stuff". We have shared the history of Santa and how the legend came to be. What got me to thinking about this was a friend on FaceBook asking when he should start using Santa as behavior modification for his son. I told him never, that you should expect the same behavior from your child at all times. EVERY comment after that condones lying to the child to get what they expect from them. THAT IS LAZY PARENTING, if you ask me.

Sure is it so much easier to just go along with the norm of lying and deceiving your child, because you WILL get flack about not doing the Santa routine. I started to say that I just don't get it, but we do live in a fallen world. There are a lot of people out there who do not have a relationship with God, oh wait.....What about the ba-gillion CHRISTIANS out there doing the exact same thing???? Lying. I could just sugar coat it, and a lot of Christians who read this will justify it, but you are still lying. It is no wonder our society is going the way it is going.

I have heard of children choosing not to believe in Jesus after they found out their parents were lying about Santa. "You told me Santa was real, how am I supposed to believe you about Jesus?". I am not trying to point a finger, I am trying to get some people thinking about what they are doing, what they have done. Shoot if you will tell a little white lie about Santa, what other bigger things are you willing to lie about, do lie about? Anyway you look at it lying is wrong, look at all those people who show up at American Idol tryouts who have been told their entire lives that they can sing? I guess we wouldn't have any one to laugh at if they hadn't been lied to.

That is all I have to rant about today :-)

posted by Liz at 8:19 AM - permalink - -

December 05, 2008
Recent Projects

So, one of the things that drew us to this house plan was the cool niches on either side of the fireplace. We probably should have had built ins put in by the the builder, but I don't think what they would have done would have been as functional for us as what we did for ourselves. Last year for Christmas my in-laws gave us a big screen tv. We had just been using the old tv stand that we had, and that was fine, but on the day before Thanksgiving Alan and I did a project we had been talking about doing for awhile. The space, as you can see, really wasn't working very well for us and I wanted the house in a little more order. So, we did this in a day:

As you can see, it works great!! And the most amazing part is that we didn't fight as much as we normally do on such joint adventures. We took our measurements, and the above picture, and had one of the employees as Lowes help us out deciding the best way to make this shelf functionally sound. We plan on putting lower shelf under this one, but this was all we had time to finish so we could watch the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade and then a little football. I just put the paint on Wednesday, we choose white because it matches all the other trim. This wonderful little shelf only cost us around 60$ to build. AND I have been up on it so I know it will hold the tv, which weighs significantly less than I do. That is the old tv stand and our wood box under it to help clear up our floor in the living room.

Now, on Wednesday as well, our old washing machine gave up the ghost. I am sure it is still fixable, but it just didn't seem right to pay the possible $200 + that it would have cost to fix a 10+ year old machine, when I could have that one there on the left!! The pedastal is cool and the machine is quiet. Nothing real fancy but it comes with a warranty and we bought a 5 year one as well, YOU SHOULD ALWAYS GET A WARRANTY!! Seriously it was only $99 for a 5 year warranty which wouldn't even cover the cost of a service call if something were to go wrong. It is a Bosch 300 Nexxt series. I am happy with it and I hope it lasts as long as the old Whirlpool we had.

That is all for now!!

posted by Liz at 11:26 AM - permalink - -

November 27, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving

There are many things to be thankful for today. I am a simple person and this morning the thing I am thankful for is that everything is timing out how I want it to. The turkey came out at 7a.m., I did a copy cat recipe for honey baked ham, and it looks wonderful too. I made quich for breakfast and it was good and came out how and when I wanted it to. Now I just have to time out the stove top items and we are golden.

There are some years where the thought of the holidays just wears me out. I hate the "have to's" and the commercialism. This year everyone gets a homemade gift, because we don't have the money to buy things, and I think I am going to fill their stockings with cookies and other simple homemade things, or we may just do away with stockings this year, we will see.

Alan and I have never really spent a lot, compared to many others. Years ago, when Katey was little, we decided to only buy them 2 gifts each, one thing they need and one thing they want. This came one year, after opening a huge pile of gifts, when one of our children turned and looked at us and said, "Is that all?". Sad, but true. I try to focus on being together as a family and having fun.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

posted by Liz at 9:20 AM - permalink - -

November 14, 2008
Grateful for Honda

We have a 2000 Honda Odyssey and I am very grateful for that vehicle. I have an idealized notion of how I want things to be but inevitably I am too lazy to make it that way. I said that to say that we are pretty hard on our cars. We usually don't have the money to change the oil when it needs it, not that it doesn't get done, it is just done later than it should be.

The only real "trouble" we have ever had with that car is at 108,000 miles when both the transmission and catalytic converter went out. Thankfully the dealer got it covered under warranty and we didn't have to pay the 7000.00 it would have been otherwise. In the last month or so it had started to run a little rough and I was concerned that something bad was going to happen. The check engine light had been on for awhile, I knew what it was, but we just didn't have the money to have it fixed. Ultimately, we had the EGR valve replaced, the cause of the check engine light, and it is back to running great. Our mechanic told me we need a new battery, I knew that too. The one I have in there is a 2003 and it is starting to struggle. So, I guess I will get a new battery on Saturday.

I have a tendency to always thing something bad is going to happen to one of the cars. So I drive around on pins and needles, not good. I just got to thinking yesterday after we went to pick up the Odyssey about how lucky we really are with that thing and I wanted to share it with you all. And the things they say about how good Honda's are - BELIEVE THEM!!

posted by Liz at 8:48 AM - permalink - -

October 25, 2008
I think you should wait

I think you should wait for a lot of things. What I am talking about is going to college and deciding on what you want to do for the rest of your life. I just wonder how many people actually change careers half way through their life? When I think about it, probably not many because it is easier to take the easy road, to not think about it and just do what you do. I never did anything in my degree, Corrections and Juvenile Services. I had Katey right before my last semester of college and we decided that we would be a traditional family and I would stay home and raise my own kids. Now, a million years later, I no longer want to do what I am doing. My kids are "grown" and I have a little more time to do what I want. I want to find something that I like to do and makes enough money to support my family - seems that is harder than I thought.

I want to change my future. I want to change my job. Now, the decision is what do I really want to do? What do I have to do to make something happen? There are options out there, but finding the time, energy and money to possibly make any of it happen is an issue.

Do I go back to school and become a nurse? Or do I try to start a business? Or do I help the domestic violence shelter start something that will help them earn money and in the future would help me with our monastery?

I just wish it was easier to see what would be best, what my family would benefit most from. If only I had a magic ball that would give me the answer. What if I make the wrong choice and worse things happen than what we are going through now?

posted by Liz at 10:15 AM - permalink - -

September 21, 2008
"When it rains it pours"

That is what the vet said when I had to take Peter to the vet the day after we spent WAYYYYY too much money on Angus.

Peter hadn't been acting right for a couple of days but with the obvious problem of Angus, he got over looked a little. So, on Wednesday morning I had to take him in because he was a sick kitty.

Turns out he had a blocked urethra. Let's just say that if the damn thing stops up again, he is going to have to be put down. I know that a lot of people don't like hearing that, but seriously, we just can't afford surgery for an animal. He ended up spending 2 days in the "hospital". It was tough going, and even though it wasn't as bad as one of our kids being gone, it came pretty close.

Oh, the end prognosis on Angus was that he had a type of mange. Mange, which I didn't know, is caused by parasitic infestation of the skin, microscopic mites . The vet said that all dogs have it but their body usually keeps it in check. I guess due to Angus age, 12, his body just wasn't fighting it. I would put a picture up of the poor dog right after we brought him home, but it is gross.

So, there has been a lot of pouring rain going on at the Creech household this week. I have to believe that "this too, shall pass". I hope.

posted by Liz at 11:50 AM - permalink - -

September 16, 2008
Pray for Angus

I wouldn't usually ask such a thing, but he and our children need your prayers. I took him to the vet today due to a re occurrance of a skin rash. Over the past couple of days it has just gotten worse, and last night he was pretty lethargic. When I took him in today, they started shaving hair to see the problem and it just kept uncovering more and more "wounds". It could be something as simple as an allergy or as bad as cancer. I am praying that it is an "easy" fix and he will just have to be shaved and wear a cone around his neck to keep from licking. I had to leave him at the vet so they could do some work on him, take blood, ex-rays and possibly a biopsy. So pray for our puppy.

posted by Liz at 12:30 PM - permalink - -

spiritual

> vine & branches
> vineyard central

blogs

> Garden Escapades
> Trish Hiduk
> Maryann
> Alan Creech
> The Vine
> Little Houses
> Amber Bishop
> Jody Nixon
> Laura Ogle
> Debi Warford
> Jason & Brooke Evans
> Eric Keck
> Beth Keck
> Pete Matthews
> Trudi Matthews
> Brian Phillips
> Bryan Sherwood
> Malie
> Kim Johnson

Homeschool

> vegsource homeschool
> discovery school channel
> saxon math and phonics

general interest

> john rosemond's affermative parenting
> lisa welchel
> thunderstruck
> Homestar Runner

gardening

> Kids Gardening

books i like

Here are some books I suggests if you are looking to homeschool or just for information. I gleaned a lot from them. Our church gets credit if you buy through these links.

In their Own Way
by Thomas Armstrong

Seven Times Smarter
by Laurel Schmidt

How to Talk So Kids Can Learn
by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish

Teen Proofing
by John Rosemond