Trapped Under the Sea

This is a Blogging for Books review of trapped Under the Sea by Neil Swidey.

I love this book for so many reasons.  Number one: it's about the place I love, Boston (just outside of it).  Number two: it is about real life and real people.  Number three: it is very well written.  The list goes on.  I like that the Neil Swidey paints a portrait of the main characters in the story.  The men who, knowing the possible risk, take the historic job to make a place for themselves, to make a living, even to make a fresh start, some who gave the ultimate sacrifice.  He takes us through each man's personal life throughout the story, drawing us, the reader, in.

I have to admit that I know nothing about deep sea diving, anything about welding, or anything that has to do with pipes under water or on dry land.  So, while Mr. Swidey did his homework and knew his stuff, some of the information was fascinating, the technical information was a bit over my head.  Those parts of the story lost me a bit.  For me this was the only down side (that and there was a bit too much personal info on one of the main characters for my taste).  I was grateful for the illustrations of the tunnel in the book.  It really helped piece it together for me.

Other than that I loved it.  I kept talking to my husband about the story, the places it took place.  Being from the area he was familiar with many of the places.  Which really made it more personal for us.  Deer Island is now on our list of things to see when we go back to Massachusetts.  

While I was a bit let down at the outcome of the trial, I appreciate Mr. Swidey's remaining neutral on the matter.  He lets the reader make up his/her own mind, the outcome and who is at fault.  I am also glad that he followed through with what happened in the affected persons lives after the accident on Deer Island. 

The story was written in such a way that it will remain with me for a very long time.  It also gave me a new perspective on major projects, buildings, dams, the like that were made by people.  What we see, the outcome, the tall building, the story bridge, is not always the whole story.  It has made me curious to read about the back stories on many other famous and not so famous fixtures and landmarks.

I would definitely recommend this book.  

Where Have I Been?

Golly, I am so sorry for the long absence.

So many things have happened; that and life.

This happened...

 Our daughter got married!!!  He is the best for her.  I could really go on and on!

 My son-in-love's mom is one of my closest friends.  I was his first Sunday School teacher.  God is SO good.  He answered so many of my prayers.

Adjusting to life without her in the house has been different, to say the least.


We got...

Midge (here with our niece).  You can follow/like her on FB.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Midge-the-One-eyed-Chihuahua/663862947035506

I cut my hair.

BEFORE...If only it stayed like this all day...everyday!

 I found somewhere that would take grey & low-lighted hair.

AFTER.

I went here with Hubby.

Camping.  Not something that I normally like.  I had fun and would do it again.

There are more things, but that is for another post.  If there is anyone still reading...THANKS!

I Am Rather Proud "draft #3"

Number three in the draft series...this was last year.

When our daughter was just 3 months old my brother came to live with us.  We opened our home, hubby gave him a job and took a chance.  We wanted Matt to have the relationship we had with Jesus.  We pushed aside all of the what-if's and took that chance.  (My brother was a lost druggie with long hair living in Alaska.)

No one would've ever known he'd be a pastor let alone a missionary on the other side of the world touching people for Jesus.

 Showing some native items.

 My brother's family in native garb.  My family just happened to be in all red.  A few of my sister-in-love's family.  It was hard to say goodbye!

 Love these girls.

Just a funny video.  I thought it was in photo mode and it was in video mode.  Love this little man.

Sisters "Draft" Post #2"

*This was from a year ago..almost to the day.*

While in cali us girls had some free time.  My sister and I did something that we haven't done in years.
I did her hair.
My sister has a ton of hair, thick, curly hair.
Her only request was that it be off of her face.
Here I am trying one of those braids that is like a headband.
It didn't look good.

I ended up curly her whole head!!  It looked so pretty.  I wish I had a picture, but my camera's batteries died.

Spending time with my sister is such a precious treasure.  We are so different and yet so alike.  There is no one like her.  She is truly one of a kind.  God knew what He was doing when He made my little sister.  She is an awesome woman of God.

letting your kids be average

**I went back through my posts and noticed I had a number of drafts.  So, here is number one the the "Draft Series".

look up the word average and you'll see it has a lot to do with math.
listen to any game of baseball and you'll quickly learn it's all about averages.
letting your kids be average is a whole other story.

now i am not against excelling or doing your best.  i am all for that.  while most of us are more than likely average, we strive to make our kids better than average.

take a phone call to a long distant relative or friend.  you know the question is going to be asked..."so, how are the kids doing?"  you're not going to answer, "oh, they are average kids doing average things."  if you're like me sometimes at that particular moment your kids are just average.  they aren't in any special activity.  they aren't winning any big awards, etc.  they are just being average.  why do we feel bad saying not much exciting is happening?

again i am not promoting laziness or free-willing living.  four-wheeling, maybe.  i see this alot amongst homeschoolers.  public schoolers too, just not as much.  take homeschool forums (pet peeve alert), far too many moms signatures will list how many kids they have, their ages, and curriculum they are using.  honestly it does not encourage me one bit to know that your brilliant child is taking chemistry, physics and trig all at the same time.  or that you can teach all ten of your kids who all will end up being doctors or something like that.

again the long distance phone call..."did you know that johnny/juan/maria (whatever names fits) won this award, is the top of her city, got 2nd in the state and 7th in the U.S of A!"  to which you respond, after oh wowing, my johnny didn't fight his sister today. 

now i am not trying to make fun of high achievers; we need them.  but why are we wanting our kids to be the best (or somewhere close) is it for them or to make us look good.  especially if you homeschool.  if they do poor or average in public school you can at least blame the school.  but when you have average kids, that means that you are probably average too.

to me, being average is not a bad thing at all.  if that is who you are, then that is who you are.  be the best average person there is.  i have seen too many parents put all of this unnecessary pressure on the kids to go to the olympics if they're good in sports, become a specialized doctor, etc.  let the kids do their best and to be kids.  far too many kids aren't kids anymore.

okay, i am stepping off my soapbox now.

Prayers Being Answered

Our daughter is courting (more on that in a another post) a wonderful young man.
I for one am very happy for her.
Since our kids were little I have prayed for their future spouses and for them to have biblical "spouse" qualities themselves.

We also prepare them to move out into the big world without us.  All along thinking that we too are being prepared for their departure.  While she may be ready I am not sure that I am.  However...

Our daughter has grown into such a beautiful young lady inside and out.  She is tender hearted, knows what she wants and doesn't back down easily, a passionate person.  She is responsible and compassionate.  She is talented and loves to serve God.  She has a heart for the lost no matter who they are or what they look like.  She has a sort quirkiness (not even sure if that is the right word) about her, which we love.  For her I have prayed for a man who would be easy going and not put demands on her.  Someone who will love her for who she is.  Someone who can communicate with her easily.  There is more but I will save that for a later post.  So far Jonathan is that guy.  They have so much fun together and are so comfortable with one another.  When he is around I watch her relax.  He has already proven protective, caring and a good brother-in-law to our son.  He thinks about the future and has made some sacrifices, that some wouldn't think about, for our daughter and their future.  During the five years that their relationship has been in the making they have kept their focus on God and stayed pure.  We are very proud of them both.  Only good things can come from this beautiful relationship.

Girly Day

 I had three precious girls from church over today.  We played beauty parlor.

 Made oatmeal cookies and had dinner.

 I tried the waterfall braid for the first time.

They even made our kitchen sparkle after!!

Around Here

Christmas present

Our neighbor had a downed tree sitting there in his yard for some time.  We asked, he said yes and we made it into these.

Son sprayed them with a light stain and sealer.

We are getting rid of the chicks and got some new hens...I know we are hard to keep up with.

New girl trying to fit in.

Last but not least, our girl Midge sitting on her favorite place, laundry.

Henny Penny

 Thought it was time for a hen update.  Here's Shantel.  Our son's hen.  We think she's the producer of the brown eggs with speckles.  She is the plumpest one of the bunch.  If you go into get an egg that she's sitting on she may peck you.  I usually leave the egg/s there if she's sitting onto of them.

 This is Ginger, one of our Americaunas.  She lays pale green eggs.  She doesn't stand out all that much.  The Easter Layers are calmer and quieter than the other breeds.

 Not sure if this is Red or Phoneix.   I have to see them together to tell.  She too lays brown eggs.  She is one of the noisy hens.  These Production Reds are the rowdy girls in the bunch.  They will peck at your legs, toes, etc.  Especially Red.

 We had some bad winds a few days ago.  Here's what it did to the coop.  Good thing the cold weather is almost over.  See Ginger, she lead me everywhere today.

 Cheeky aka "Cleopatra" and either Red or Phoneix laying eggs.  Doing what we love!!  Hoping it's a five egg day.  We need more of those.

One last shot of the camera friendly Ginger.

Random

 Selfies at the Apple store in El Paso.  We are now apple converts.

 Son took this pic of our two dogs.  He loves this affect.  We got Midge spade Sat. and are taking Dolly into the vet today to have some of her bumps looked at.  She is getting old and has many large bumps.  Two of which she keeps scratching and won't let heal.  I need to have "that" talk with the vet to see if she is in pain, etc.  I almost cried giving her a bath today.

Yes, green velvet cupcakes for St. Patty's Day.  We try to have people over every year for corned beef and cabbage, and any other Irish food we throw in.

 And yes, we did.  We did get more chicks.  We wanted to buy a hen who is already laying, but they are very hard to come by.  We are going through eggs like crazy, thanks to growing teen son.  This little chicks are growing so fast.

We are not sure what breed these are, the store didn't even know.  The all cream one is Blanca.  The one with the big black spot is Dot and the other is Ink.

A New Page

I have no photos or any awesome stories to share, just a quick note.

Today is my first day of early retirement (as someone called it last night).

I have quit my job as a full time special ed educational assistant to be a part time substitute.  For sure, for now, I am going to sub in my class on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  There is a precious young lady who comes then for whom I am her one-on-one.  My goal is to work three days a week, possibly four.  We will see how that goes.  I am more than excited to be able to spend more time at home, doing things, serving the ones I have been for all of these years.

So hopefully, I can blog a bit more as well!

For now, have a great day and let me know if you are still reading.