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Ron Paul: Hope for America! I've surprised myself and gotten all political this year, blogging about Dr. Ron Paul and the U.S. Constitution and Austrian Economics and great Ron Paul quotes. Prior to that, I was blogging about parenting, adoption, older child adoption, international adoption, Khabarovsk, Russian adoption, attachment disorder, attaching in adoption, Love and Logic, parenting, home-schooling, blog widgets, books, Friday Poetry, Poetry Friday, works for me, recipes, cooking, baking, bread-making, bread, KitchenAid stand mixer, KitchenAid stand mixer attachments, gardening, arthritis, paraplegia, poetry, literature, grammar, sticklers and bluegrass. All the while sharing rotating quotes from C.S. Lewis, GK Chesterton, Ron Paul, Bono, and other Good Thinkers. In case you are wondering, Ron Paul should choose Sarah Palin as Vice President. Got liberty?

:: Adventures in Daily Living ::


hope for America

Get your own Ron Paul button at http://titanmiller.no-ip.org/ronpaul





about me

Here I chatter about books, parenting, election 2008, recipes, teaching college writing, and the adventures of getting settled in with our two freshly (Fall 06) adopted school-age children from Russia. This blog is chapter two; chapter one is posted at Jamie & Suzanne go to Russia.
+/- rather useless info about me
I live in the City of Subdued Excitement, Cascadia, Land of the Free.

I am the wife of a man I call My Gift from a Generous God. I am mama to two lovely children, Dandy and Chickadee that became ours in September 2006 in a court-room in Siberia. I am the daughter of two people whom I love and admire. One of them, my dad, is a new (Dec 06) paraplegic.

In my previous life (B.C. - before children), I was a college English teacher, specializing in composition and ESL composition.

:: click here to read my 8 things meme

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is:

Venerable Lady Suzanne the Tenuous of Grasshopper in the Hole
+/- posting schedule
Sundays: travel pictures.
Mondays: recipes.
Tuesday: whatever I fancy.
Wednesdays: a Works for Me.
Thursday: whatever I feel like.
Fridays: a lovely poem.
Saturdays: who knows?

Random bits & pieces of my life:

:: header picture ::
Edinburgh Botanical Gardens

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My Blog List

  • Read Roger
    We guys do love our schematics
    I'm so happy when a picture book for adults is published as just that. Like this one.
    51 minutes ago
  • Fanatic Cook
    Eleven Foods, Including Beets
    Lavender's mention of beets reminded me of this post B sent along yesterday: The 11 Best Foods You Aren’t Eating If I can substitute dried grapes for dried...
    1 hour ago
  • The Philosopher-Mom
    When We Were Young...and Stupid
    Go over to Derfwad Manor and read all the stupid things we Blog Queens did as Young Princesses. (The 12th-or-so comment is my famous "Introduction to New Y...
    3 hours ago
  • here and now
    For us...
    I arrived home after a few hours at the pool with the kids to find one of the most generous gifts our family has ever received. Many of our friends fro...
    4 hours ago
  • Scribbit | A Blog About Motherhood in Alaska
    Voila! French Beret!
    So Michelle--did you get anything done today? Why yes I did! And you know what? That French Beret isn't as black as it looked on the chip. I think I kind o...
    5 hours ago
  • The Daily Tiffin
    Fathers Day and the best gift ever!
    Father’s Day was recently celebrated, in most parts of the world, on the 15th June – as it was in Malaysia. I’m not a great observer of these commercially o...
    5 hours ago
  • David Perry
    The Fragrant Jungle
    The garden just now is a jungle, a fragrant, vibrant, luscious jungle of colors and flavors and smells to savor. And yet. with the bright sun of the summer...
    7 hours ago
  • GottaBook
    Into the piles...
    Yep, tomorrow's a big packing day... and hopefully office floor cleaning day, too, as I dive into figuring out how to build a second library from new donat...
    8 hours ago
  • Owlhaven
    Works for Me: Thai Beef Chard Wraps
    This week Shannon’s Works for Me is featuring easy recipes. Actually, recipes that take 5 ingredients or less. This recipe can have more than that, but it ...
    8 hours ago
  • Semicolon
    Winter in Madrid by C.J. Sansom
    Helen MacInnes, but more lugubrious and hopeless. Ernest Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls, same setting a few years later, but more complex sentences an...
    8 hours ago
  • Canned Laughter
    Selecting Salt
    Salt is one of the most basic ingredients in any recipe, but it is important to use the right salt for the job. Have you noticed how many types of salt th...
    8 hours ago
  • smitten kitchen
    project wedding cake: the cake is baked
    [Previous Project Wedding Cake episodes: An Introduction, Mango Curd] That’s right, folks. The. Cake. Is. Baked. I mean, sure, it’s not filled. Heck, I hav...
    8 hours ago
  • Callapidder Days
    WFMW: 3 Recipes with 5 Ingredients or Less
    This week over at Rocks in My Dryer, Shannon is hosting a special Works-for-Me Wednesday: Five Ingredients or Less. Since I'm all about simple meal prepara...
    9 hours ago
  • Five J’s
    Couldn’t-be-easier Slow Cooker Recipes
    I love cooking in my slow cooker, but I don’t like complicated recipes. I’ve found that with the slow cooker, I only need a couple of ingredients to make a...
    9 hours ago
  • Rocks In My Dryer
    Works For Me: The Five-Ingredients-Or-Less Edition
    I have really been looking forward to this edition of WFMW. It was specially requested by several of you. I suspect you're feeling the same pinch at the groc...
    10 hours ago
  • Blogtations
    Redecorating
    Pardon the mess while I change my template. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
    11 hours ago
  • A Piece of My Mind
    Here is my June shower update!
    June 1-- 6 minutes (The Boy with me) June 2-- 5 minutes June 3-- 4 minutes June 4-- no shower June 5-- 4 minutes June 6-- 4 minutes (after golf!) June ...
    11 hours ago
  • Hiraeth
    Look Who Came to Dinner
    [image: Grandpa%20and%20Elliott.jpg] [image: Grandpa%20holding%20Elliott.jpg] Grandpa has still got the magic touch.
    12 hours ago
  • Long And Winding Road To Home
    More paperwork
    I'm working on getting some updated paperwork done in hopes of THE Good News coming soon. I take *D* to her doctor tomorrow for her medical check up to sub...
    12 hours ago
  • Big A little a
    A few links for your Tuesday
    Items of Interest: - I have not read Henry Winkler's children's books, but I have to say I'm always impressed when he speaks about them. Today he tal...
    13 hours ago
  • HipWriterMama
    Writing Tip: Ray Bradbury on Persistence
    13 hours ago
  • Laurel Snyder
    Oh, oh, oh!
    (this is NOT Mose. This is someone else’s ugly–though potty trained–kid) Have you ever been to Smaland? Well, me neither, but MOSE HAS!!! Because suddenly ...
    14 hours ago
  • The Open Window
    Parent of the Year
    I just told my son that he has three choices: 1) Put his clothes away properly like I showed him. 2) Stay in the house forever. 3) Go outside only in the...
    14 hours ago
  • Family Reunion
    Daily Living
    Eat, sleep, wake up to eat some more then sleep. That's what my day has been like today. She is also very clingy so a lot of the day she's been in my arms...
    14 hours ago
  • The Looking Closer Journal
    Farewell, Major Briggs.
    Don S. Davis, one of the great actors among Twin Peaks‘ fantastic cast, has died. Davis played Major Briggs, who was a caring father, and a secretive serva...
    15 hours ago
  • Storing Up Treasures in Heaven
    Disappointing News
    I am sad to report that Emmanuel is not a Rockstar after all. At least not yet. Somehow there was miscommunication and our court decree was not signed and ...
    16 hours ago
  • Boy Oh Boy!
    The do over
    So, yesterday I talked about getting to have a do-over on this mistake I made of putting the boys into beds too soon. Unfortunately, I did not see the thou...
    17 hours ago
  • Saints and Spinners
    First word?
    Bede wonders if "dragon" really is the first word Lucia has ever read on her own. Do you remember what your breakthrough word in reading was? I don't rememb...
    18 hours ago
  • Life of Elle
    Mommy Quandray
    I’m in a bit of a pickle. My child is a very schedule oriented type of person. Good thing he has me as a mother I suppose. Our days go a bit like this. ...
    18 hours ago
  • In My Kitchen Garden
    Garden Journal 7/1/08:A Helpful List of What's Been Happening
    First Echinacea Bloom of the Year - June 19th *Realization of the Day:* The best intentions are simply not making it from brain to blog. I just jotted dow...
    19 hours ago
  • The Simple Woman
    TSW Summer Swap Partners
    (UPDATE) As with any swap there are always a few wrinkles that need worked out. I made a few adjustments, but the adjustments are being worked out by email w...
    19 hours ago
  • Liz In Ink
    The Magic and Talented Marla
    Marla Frazee (sometimes referred to -- in moments of euphoric elation -- as my own personal illustrator, not to mention a kindred spirit in the hair depart...
    19 hours ago
  • The Kindlings Muse
    Douglas Gresham aboard Sea Cloud II CS Lewis Study Trip. Podcast: Dick Staub Show Interview Segment 1 of 1
    In August 2007 Dick Staub interviewed C.S. Lewis stepson Douglas Gresham aboard Sea Cloud II as it sailed on the Irish Sea. This First Century Voyages trip...
    19 hours ago
  • Magistramater
    100 Species Challenge
    Quote from Homeschooling the Doctorate: Someone I was recently reading (I cannot remember who--Berry? Wirzba?) lamented the decline of local knowledge amo...
    20 hours ago
  • Adventures in Sleeplessness
    Cutest Thing Evuh
    So yesterday, I was observing the boys in the living room and I saw Gavin walk away from Liam. Around his neck he was wearing a pair of toy binoculars. Whe...
    20 hours ago
  • Russian Adoption
    Family Reunion
    Last week my grandmother passed away. She was sick and in a lot of pain so it wasn't a shock to anyone but it was still sad to not have her here anymore. S...
    22 hours ago
  • Confessions of a Pioneer Woman
    Morning, Excellent and Fair
    Even when we don’t have to jump out of bed at 4:30 to go work cattle, I make it a point (most of the time) to get out of bed early—usually before sunrise...
    22 hours ago
  • Like Merchant Ships
    Keeping cool
    We've only made it to the beach once, but we've been busy crossing errands off the list. Since my internet time is so limited, I used my Frugal Hacks spot...
    22 hours ago
  • Our Little Russian Peanut
    Sunshine and Happiness - Moscow Trip 2, Day 7
    What a gorgeous day outside! This is the first nice day we've seen since we've been here. The day started with us checking out of our hotel and then headi...
    23 hours ago
  • Life with this Child of Mine
    Oh Look! A Video!
    I've had several clips loaded on my computer...but have been REALLY lazy in putting them together lately. So today, you get a compilation of a few things f...
    1 day ago
  • Sandy Cove Trail
    Print Awareness
    I posted some of this on my 365 Photo blog, but I’ve been thinking more about it and have other observations to record about Punkin’s language development....
    1 day ago
  • Lawn Gospel
    Family Planning: Let’s Consider a Pre-emptive Strike
    “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.” - (Pro 19:21) Scripture never talks about “planning” being a ...
    1 day ago
  • Gluten-Free Girl
    watermelon
    [image: watermelon] It is finally summer here, after all. Damn, it is hot. I know. After months of wondering if the grey cloud cover would ever lift away...
    1 day ago
  • Three Sons and A Princess
    Cause I'm Free... To Do What I Want...
    So at the same time I decided to go TV-Free I finished my school semester. For some reason this made me feel like I was free falling. A lot of my time was ...
    1 day ago
  • Tartelette
    DMBLGIT June 2008 - And The Winners Are....
    166 entries! Yep...ya'll now how to make my head spin and my mailbox go wild!! Only one entry lost into the depths of this vast galaxy in early June and ju...
    1 day ago
  • Robin Brande
    Yep, saw my past lives
    It’s too long to go into now–and besides, I may want to save it for my next book–but I wanted you to know that last weekend I was hypnotized by Dr. Brian W...
    1 day ago
  • Andrea's Recipes
    The Daring Bakers Make Danish Braid
    I was so excited to see this challenge when it was posted earlier this month because we love bread in any shape or form. Ask my boys what they want for a s...
    1 day ago
  • This Garden Is Illegal
    Q & A with Noel Kingsbury
    Yesterday, I reviewed the book “Planting Green Roofs and Living Walls”. After I read the book, I had the delightful opportunity to ask one of the authors o...
    1 day ago
  • Cold Climate Gardening
    Two Troy-Bilt Tillers
    We grew vegetables for years without a tiller I am not the vegetable gardener in this family. My husband, on the other hand, has been growing vegetables si...
    1 day ago
  • Dining Alone
    Pineapple Ham Salad
    I told you I would give you a recipe for the rest of that ham steak and here it is. This is so delicious and colorful, it is perfect for Summer. The rec...
    1 day ago
  • Farmgirl Fare
    Monday Daily Dose of Cute:Meet Our New Hay Inspector
    *Topaz* Takes Her Job Seriously © Copyright 2008 *FarmgirlFare.com*, the award-winning blog where Topaz, who spent 15 months at the animal shelter before ...
    1 day ago
  • Four Feet More
    A life in 6 words
    That was the gauntlet thrown down by our beloved Kate, and I tried to rise to the occasion. I will confess, I had quite a bit of difficulty. I even appeale...
    1 day ago
  • An Untraditional Home
    My domestic day
    So I spent all day baking instead of painting I like I planned. It was nice and cool and I needed to make bread, and if I am going to make bread and have ...
    1 day ago
  • Pioneer Woman Cooks
    Yogurt Cream and Berries
    My mom visited a few years ago during a time when my baby was actually a baby and not a four-year-old like he is now, when I still call him my baby. I wa...
    1 day ago
  • a wrung sponge
    June 30 Haiku
    heat breaks in clouds showering the painted fern; cool of the day
    1 day ago
  • Farm School
    By default…
    I seem to be on a blogging summer vacation. The kids had their swim club windup last Thursday, and today is the last day, so that’s the last of the year’s ...
    1 day ago
  • FoodieView Blog
    Recipe Roundup: Patriotic Foods
    By Rachel Rappaport of Coconut & Lime Photo by Dine and Dish As July 4th nears, my thoughts always turn to patriotic foods. Cook-outs are a traditional way...
    1 day ago