Stolen from Yarenen
((but with full credit to him for his work!!))

We get to celebrate Pesah early this year, the earliest since 5659 (1899).  Just as we celebrate our Geula from Egypt early, may we also celebrate our Geula from this long bitter exile early, and may it be Bimhera Veyamenu, Amen.

aNNa'S NoTe:  Thanks upon thanks to Yarenen for bringing this to our attention!!  And I thought you might be interested in knowing that 1967 was the return of Israel to it's nation (the size it is, today).  If that was the last LATEST dates for Pesach, I can't help but be geeked for what this last EARLIEST date will bring!!

10 Things

I haven't done this in a long time, and I thought that it might be a nice change.  Besides, I had NO idea what to post today, and it works as filler, for the time being.  Considering number three.

1. I have a goal.  I want to finish the 'Ghost Whisperer' series before Passover.  We have 12 episodes left, so it's very doable.  But my REAL reason is because I'm sick of it and want to do the 613 Torah commandments with Brian.  I'm antsy to get started, but we need to finish the series to free up our after-kids-are-in-bed time.  And by the way?  Ghost Whisperer's son annoys the heck out of both Brian and I, we never warmed up to Eli, and the whole 'shinies/shadows' thing blows.

2. We're supposed to go to Mackinaw Island this spring.  I've never been, although Brian went the year we met, with his grandparents.  I... am not sure I want to go.  I think it's going to be a let-down as far as things to see/do, with a high gasp-factor as far as exorbitant prices go.  I've been trying HARD to talk myself into it.  It's not working.  I'm running out of time to get into the groove of it... I checked out this book on things for families to do in Michigan, and the Island, the Fort, the Bridge, the whole thing?  Takes up HALF a page in this book.  WTHeck?!  Anyhow, I'm tempted to try to talk Brian into doing the lighthouses down the east side of the state on the way home, instead.  And anything else in the book that might strike my fancy.  Gimmicky tourist traps make me break out in hives.
3. I have been working feverishly at getting my stuff updated on line this week.  You haven't noticed, I know, but it's true.  I've added a metric CRAP-ton of stuff to my Pinterest board.  Did four 'SotW' posts here (and backdated them... one is still in process, because I have to add pictures to it, and haven't gotten to that, yet.  I've been printing projects, unit studies, worksheets, and have been trying to get organized, again.  Today's job is adding to our Book of Centuries - I need to do the 1800s in decade-sized increments, so I have to add pages to all of the books.  Except that my old file isn't compatible with my current PC (hate Microsoft), so I have to re-format the whole file.  Also need to finish the 'Seven Wonders' lapbook I have partially put together... so that it also has the modern and natural wonders.  In case you thought I was just twiddling, over here.  ((Wink!))
4. Of all of the women who are DESPERATE to get the chicken pox, I was the only one to have traveled to the Metro Detroit home to try to contract it, I found out yesterday.  That blows my mind.  If I was the ONLY one, and I drove across a state in a snowstorm?  They weren't really desperate, were they?  It just... I have very little respect for my fellow mothers out there, I have to tell you.  And the sucky part?  Not a spot on any of my children.  Not ONE.  After all that.  At least I don't have to lie about it... we just didn't catch it, apparently.  Although Brian says technically we have two more days.  ((I say 'snort'.))
5. My March calendar is BOOKED.  No crap, I can't believe how much stuff is going on in the month of March.  It feels wrong, like a distraction - because of the whole 'something's-gonna-happen' feeling that runs like an undercurrent in my psyche.  But anyhoo... it's just one thing after another.  I'm kind of glad, but another part of me wants less scheduled activity and more opportunity to just... blow where the wind takes us?
6. I quit working on fitness/weight just before Valentine's.  And it hasn't bothered me - even been a thought in my head! - until this week, and all of a sudden, I'm just HUNGRY.  And it's bad - I'm not a snacker, and suddenly I'm craving snacks which has me thinking about fitness/weight, and... it's just a sucky situation, all around.  Although Brian says he's the same way - just HUNGRY all the time.  I don't know what has set us off.  Maybe it's not just us?  But if this doesn't stop, I'm gonna have to whip out the Richard Simmons, again... doesn't sound like fun.
7. I keep dreaming about our old house up north.  I don't know why... it's really strange.  I dream about it all the time, and each time, we're moving back into it, and of course it needs a LOT of work because of what the previous owners (people who have it now) have done to it.  In the dreams, we've got all of our stuff on trailers, and are walking around, deciding what goes where.  The thing is, I have NO desire to move back up north.  At all.  The commute, the cost of heating in a drafty old farmhouse, the SNAKES, the horsehair lathe... my list is a mile long of reasons NEVER to go back there.  And yet I dream of that place all of the time.  It's disturbing.  It drives me crazy.  I'm being stalked by a farmhouse in my dreams.  Okay, that's just wacked.
8. This week, I took to stalking extended family on Facebook.  See, I wanted to know if any of my great-aunts/uncles were on-line.  I miss them.  And then I thought that maybe there'd be pictures on their grandkids' sites of them (since I couldn't find most of them... it's a generational thing.  Older generations aren't on FB, typically).  I don't know family under the age of 50 - anyone my own age I'm clueless about.  Anyone younger?  Fuggidaboutit.  But I found BIG family pictures including my great-aunts/uncles, and learned a lot about my relatives.  If I were into geneology, I could've had a field day with trying to put new stuff in the book I have.  But mostly I believe geneology is a distraction to keep people looking back, from focusing on Yehovah's current and pending plans... so I have mostly steered clear.  Still... it was fun looking for people I have missed having in my life.  And I had a nice conversation with a Sr. I thought was a Jr. (which would've made the Jr. a III...) but heck if I know.  I get blonde when it comes to that.  Prob'ly a good idea I don't do geneology.
9. Do you ever get a hankering for something?  I have had this INCREDIBLE hankering to go swimming, lately.  It's a chlorine thing - from my days in swim training.  Every once in a while, I just crave chlorine and echoey teal spaces.  I can't help it.  And it's been eating at me for about three weeks, now.  The local pool SUCKS... it's colder than a polar bear's arse, and it's never open (dependent on participation numbers).  There's a pool only 5 minutes further (in the opposite direction), but it's a funky pool - shaped like an 'L' with the shallow lanes being the longer leg, and the deep end is the short leg off it.  Very weird.  But there's free swim there at the SAME time as the kids' dance classes, and we go past to get to dance, and again to go home... so technically, Brian could drop me off, I could swim, and then he could pick me up after dance and we could go to supper.  That feels SO. DAMN. SELFISH that I can't bring myself to do it.  I can't ask Brian to take the kids to dance alone.  Besides, if something happened on the way there?  I wouldn't be with them.  I know... I'm hopelessly pathetic on so many levels.  Anyhow, there's another pool, 15 minutes further away, and I heard that it's WONDERFUL... but I can't find ANY information on-line about free swim there.  I know they have it, but I'm not even sure where the facility is.  Yeah.  It's definitely a hankering...
10. I can cook and bake.  Which probably sounds stupid, but it's true.  See, I come from a long line of women who bake.  Who it was a BIG thing to, the whole baking scene.  They were known for it.  So that's no big.  But the line I come from does NOT cook.  And yet... I love to cook.  I do.  I'm not the measuring type, and I tend to add spices and extra ingredients to make it better, but I do love to cook.  My mother and sister canNOT cook, At. All.  According to my mom, my SiL can't cook.  But I can cook.  AND bake... that wasn't sacrificed.  Which is why my waist looks like it does... well, that and six pregnancies.  Anyhow, I only mention this, because today I'm going to try this recipe (LINK).  And btw, if it has chocolate in it?  I'm ALL about baking it.  Now you can go on your merry way, knowing that my home smells of caramel, chocolate, and banana, and you can't have any... bwahahahaha!!!  ((Have a good day, anyhow!))

Learning Something New

Last week, I was sick, sick, sick.  And when you're sick, you don't want to move.  So I didn't.  I laid down on the sofa.  But every child was going out of his/her mind, because Mama wasn't schooling them.  I just wasn't up to it.  So we had two movie afternoons.  And we watched the two 'Tomb Raider' movies.  Which, by the way, are very educational, geographically and historically speaking.  As a few added perks, it has Simon, the Transformer-like robot (which geeked Isaac) and superhero-esque fights (which thrilled Ethan and Aaron), and a kickass heroine (which geeked Lydia and I).  What's not to like?

In the first movie, Lara Croft is trying to find two pieces of a triangle that were hidden at different ends of the earth.  If they're put together at a specific time (a planetary alignment and solar eclipse), the device would allow the holder to bend/manipulate time.  I know... silly, but it makes for a fun adventure movie.  Anyhow, one of the pieces is hidden in a cave... and in the bowels of this cave, there is an enormous machine.  It's a mobile of the planets, moving around.  It's THE kewlest machine, and I thought to myself, 'wouldn't it be fantastic to find one?  I wonder if they even make them, anymore.'

Problem is, I didn't even know what they were called.  So I finally remembered (while sitting by the computer), and I started doing searches, trying to find what I was looking for.  It turns out that the mechanical device is called an 'Orrery', named after the man who first made it - Charles Orrery.

Orrery, by ant_ix at DeviantArt
((click that link.  The blown up version of this is SO awesome!!))

There seems to be a severe lack of availability of them, out there.  I found a link to the website of a sundial/orrery maker in England, but apparently the site was closed when the man died.  There's another man, though, whose site is not defunct - LINK here.  You can get a cheap version for $300 (LINK) if you do a search for 'ugly' on eBay, or you can get one for $1700 (LINK) that is far more beautiful... but since both are completely out of my price range, it's moot.   I also found two sites in which people built their own orreries (LINK and LINK).  My Brian is a machinist... think I could get him to build me one?

Jovilabe Orrery by http://www.orrerymaker.com...4jpg

Anyhow, I was fascinated by these.  I think they're beautiful... as pretty as the astrolabes I was drooling over in November (LINK), and the aeolian harps (harps played by the wind) that I found last summer (LINK).  I love these things... they're all so fascinating, aren't they?  And nobody even uses them, anymore.  But they're so beautiful, so carefully crafted and so meticulous!

But for the record, I learned something new today.  I now know what an orrery is!

NoTeWorthy News

Y'know, half the time I never know what I'm going to post when I wake up...  Today was one of those days.  ((The past three WEEKS have been one of those days...))  Anyhow, there's some weird stuff going on out there, and I don't know if it's significant or not, so I'm going to do a NoteWorthy(ish) post about it.

 COMET PanSTARRS
http://www.spaceweather.com/archive.php...2013

Comet Pan-STARRS (C/2011 L4) is inside the orbit of Mercury, brightening as it plunges toward the sun. Observers in the southern hemisphere say they can see Pan-STARRS with the unaided eye in the evening sunset sky. Michael White sends this view from Manawatu, New Zealand:

On March 5th, Comet Pan-STARRS makes its closest approach to Earth followed on March 10th by its closest approach to the sun.  As Comet Pan-STARRS passes the sun, solar glare might make it difficult to see even as the nucleus vaporizes and brightens. By March 12/13th, the comet will reappear in the sunset skies of the northern hemisphere not far from the crescent Moon; think photo-op!

aNNa'S NoTe:  Dates, dates, dates!  I'm watching for important dates.  You see, we're pope-less.  By Easter - meaning in thirty days - Peter the Roman will be chosen.  Which means I'm looking for events to happen that might affect that decision.  Like the entire Cardinal council being wiped out by a massive earthquake brought on my a near approach of a comet that fricks up the atmosphere, for example?  Or signs in the sky that have significant meaning in spiritual ways?  I don't know.  But I'm WATCHING.  ALL of it.  And speaking of the Pope and dates...

 ELECTION BUMPED UP? 
http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/16/world/europe/pope-resignation

The cardinals who must pick a successor to Pope Benedict XVI after he steps down on February 28 could meet to make the decision sooner than thought, a Vatican spokesman said Saturday. The conclave, the meeting which will bring together the 117 cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church, could start before March 15 if all the cardinals are already in Rome, Father Federico Lombardi said.  Lombardi had previously said the conclave was likely to start between March 15 and 19.

But he gave new details Saturday, saying that because the pope had resigned rather than the conclave being triggered by his death, there was scope for the time frame to be brought forward.

...More than two-thirds of the final number of cardinals must agree on the next pope. The announcement that a decision has been made will come in the form of a puff of white smoke emerging from a chimney in the Vatican.

aNNa'S NoTe:  As I said, likely there will be a Peter the Roman by the end of THIS MONTH.  Unless something happens in Rome... and either way, something big happens at the end of the month.  And I have to be honest - I'm antsy.  Super, really, very-very-very-very antsy.  So many BIG things happen between now and then.  Pan-STARRS.  Pesach.  Unleavened.  Firstfruits.  Ishtar(Easter).  The new moon falls on 3/11... and that date in and of itself...

 THIRD BELT AROUND THE EARTH 
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/28feb_thirdbelt/

Earth's radiation belts were one of the first discoveries of the Space Age. A new finding published in today's issue of Science shows that we still have much to learn about them.  NASA's twin Van Allen Probes, launched just last August, have revealed a previously unknown third radiation belt around Earth.

...Nicky Fox, Van Allen Probes deputy project scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics  Laboratory in Laurel, Md. "We thought we knew the radiation belts, but we don't." Previous observations of the Van Allen belts dating back to the late 1950s have documented two distinct regions of trapped radiation surrounding our planet, known as the inner and outer radiation belts. Particle sensors aboard the twin Van Allen Probes quickly revealed to scientists the existence of a transient, third radiation belt.  Scientists observed the third belt for four weeks before a powerful interplanetary shock wave from the sun annihilated it.

aNNa'S NoTe:  I... do NOT understand this. A belt that is there, but isn't there?  Or was it there, and it's no longer there, and the destruction of it is why they even ended up seeing it?  I'm confused.  Except to say that it's very interesting, regardless.  And so is this last bit of news...

 DOUBLE PEAK SOLAR MAXIMUM?
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/01mar_twinpeaks/

Something unexpected is happening on the sun.  2013 is supposed to be the year of Solar Max, the peak of the 11-year sunspot cycle. Yet 2013 has arrived and solar activity is relatively low.  Sunspot numbers are well below their values in 2011, and strong solar flares have been infrequent for many months.

...Solar physicist Dean Pesnell of the Goddard Space Flight Center has a[n]... explanation: "This is solar maximum," he suggests. "But it looks different from what we expected because it is double peaked."

Conventional wisdom holds that solar activity swings back and forth like a simple pendulum.  At one end of the cycle, there is a quiet time with few sunspots and flares.  At the other end, Solar Max brings high sunspot numbers and solar storms. It’s a regular rhythm that repeats every 11 years.

 ... "The last two solar maxima, around 1989 and 2001, had not one but two peaks."  Solar activity went up, dipped, then resumed, performing a mini-cycle that lasted about two years.  The same thing could be happening now.  Sunspot counts jumped in 2011, dipped in 2012, and Pesnell expects them to rebound again in 2013: "I am comfortable in saying that another peak will happen in 2013 and possibly last into 2014," he predicts...

Credit: Dr. Tony Philips & NOAA/SWPC

Pesnell is a leading member of the NOAA/NASA Solar Cycle Prediction Panel, a blue-ribbon group of solar physicists who assembled in 2006 and 2008 to forecast the next Solar Max. ...No one knows for sure what the sun will do next.  It seems likely, though, that the end of 2013 could be a lot livelier than the beginning.

aNNa'S NoTe:  When something is said (or done) twice in scripture, it means that it's VERY important.  Since the sun is so vital to the trump judgments, a 'double peak' would be likely, IMO.  Now, I already posted about this about a month ago - there was a 3-ish year period of NOTHING on the sun, and the solar maximum's ascent didn't start until 2010.  This NOAA chart shows what's happening with that... and Pesnell is just confirming my own suspicions.  So it's interesting, to say the least!

Bullet Blog

• G'morning.
• I love typing that.
• It's one WHOLE bullet I don't have to think about.
• Talk about accomplishment!!
• Yes, well.
• I have NO desire to post today.
• Hence the bullet blog.
• They're cheater posts.
• Anyhow, I've been kind of busy this weekend.
• My family is moving.
• We got Brian's grandpa's big flatbed trailer to use.
• Brian goes and loads stuff up
• ... with Pop and my brother,
• and then my mom, sister, SiL, and I help unload
• ... at the new house.
• (which we saw for the first time yesterday)
• NO comment.
• We ladies also painted yesterday.
• The living room, dining room, and kitchen.
• They're off-white, now.
• I'm not a huge off-white person.
• It's from years of living in military housing.
• All my growing up years, EVERY room was off-white.
• No paint/wallpaper allowed.
• So imagine my chagrin yesterday
• when my mom said, "I haven't had an off-white living room
• since before the military!"
• (((((((I... think she's losing it.)))))))))
• Brian's making more trips with the truck/trailer
• ...again today.
• And my brother has his work's truck, and there's Pop's truck
• ... and another smaller trailer.
• But they don't intend to be 'moved in' until next weekend.
• If I were them, I'd use this WHOLE WEEK to paint/paper.
• Prep it up for the beds, etc., next weekend.
• A chicken got loose yesterday.
• We came home, and saw it trying to get back in the pen.
• It had NO idea what to do, and was freaked out.
• Not sure how that happened, actually.
• Did I tell you I'm learning the first 30 digits of Pi...
• ... by March 14th?
• That's Pi day... 3/14... get it?
• I thought it'd be fun to learn Pi.
• So I found this video.
• Isn't it fun?
• Always loved Don McLean.
• 'Starry, Starry Night' was my favorite.
• But this has got the first 30 digits, so I'm pretty happy.
• I know, I know, I'm weird, whatever!!
• Bought three VHS tapes of 'Star Wars' yesterday.
• They had 'The Junkie Menace', 'Empire Strikes Back'
• ... and 'Return of the Jedi'.
• But not 'Star Wars'... that bums me.
• You can't watch the others without 'Star Wars', hello...
• Meh.
• The kids have never seen the 'Star Wars' movies, though.
• Although I have to say...
• 'Minnesota Cuke & the Search for Noah's Umbrella'...
• ... was REALLY cute.
• Anyhoo... I'd better cut this short.
• I can just babble for HOURS, you know.
• And this could get potentially VERY long.
• Have a great Sun-day!

Guest Blog:  'Down, Down, Down Down'

http://www.mpaths.com/2013/02/down-down-down-down.html
by Reb Gutman Locks

From a recent news article:

     According to a growing number of researchers, the human race is slowly becoming dumber, and dumber. Despite our advancements over the last tens or even hundreds of years, some ‘experts’ believe that humans are losing cognitive capabilities and becoming more emotionally unstable.

     “I would wager that if an average citizen from Athens of 1000 BC were to appear suddenly among us, he or she would be among the brightest and most intellectually alive of our colleagues and companions, with a good memory, a broad range of ideas, and a clear-sighted view of important issues. Furthermore, I would guess that he or she would be among the most emotionally stable of our friends and colleagues.”[i]

Gutman adds:

    Although this is a new idea for science, the Torah has always taught that each generation, from the first man Adam on, becomes lower and lower. It is likened to a stone that is thrown. The further it gets from your hand, the more time gravity has to pull on it, so it goes lower and lower.

     Our righteous ancestors are our role models. They were great and holy people whom we try to emulate. Whereas the scientists believe that their ancestors were monkeys, we believe that we come from the most special people who ever lived.

     So does this predict a gloomy future? No, not at all. Even though our holy books tell us that we go lower and lower in each generation, they also tell us that with each generation we come closer and closer to the glorious, final redemption. This means that even though we are lower than our ancestors, we have an even greater opportunity to reveal the holiness in our lives then they did.

    Now is the most wonderful time of all. We are living in the age when Redemption is happening. With the least effort we can accomplish the most. All we have to do is really try.

[i] The scientific journal Trends in Genetics

And So It Begins...

Benedict Bids Goodbye...
http://www.voanews.com/content/benedict-bids-goodbye...45.html

aNNa'S NoTe:  Brian said he heard something about the pope retiring because of a cross-dressing priest, but I think that's too remotely unrelated to be true.  Personally my speculation is that he has the onset of Alzhiemers or some other form of dementia, and that he wants to step down with dignity while he can.  Besides, a pope that's mentally incapacitated could be a problem for the RCC.

In other news, my friend Ellen/GidgetPeke shared with me this photo this morning:

Personally, I think that it will be 'none of the above', but I know a lot of people are looking for anyone with 'Peter' in their name (that'd be Scherer, Turkson, and Erdo).  I don't know how many read my comment section here, but the last time I posted about Benny the Rat's retirement, I wrote this in the comments:

I'm not convinced it's going to be a pope. I'm actually (personally) watching for someone NOT a pope to take the reins, next.  ...this is the only Malachay prediction that has an actual person's name, it sets him apart from the popes preceeding him. But that's just me. And I don't believe he'll be the anti-christ, either - I'm betting whoever this guy is, he could potentially be the false prophet as easily as the A/C.

... Besides, people are freaking out about 'Peter the Roman'... there's a scare thing involved. To avoid that, they might just 'skip' the last pope and 'unite' Catholicism with other faiths by way of this non-pope guy. It makes some serious sense, and would be so ironic - that Malachay's prophecy of the last pope would actually be the reason someone NOT a pope gets in to fulfill the misunderstood prophecy.

We don't know at the moment what's going to happen, but by April, something is seriously going to go down.  Either:

a) a new pope with the name (given or chosen) of Peter,
b) a new unifying move with a non-pope leader
c) an earthquake that will stall the election process
d) a financial collapse that will send Europe into chaos and delay the process.

It should be fun to watch, whatever happens.  As far as I'm concerned, though, we're on the cusp of the Trump judgments.  We're historically in the right place for Peter the Roman.

And are you ready for a REAL laugh?

Nic Cage and a Contentious
'Left Behind' Remake
Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/nic-cage-and-a-contentious-left-behind-remake-90625/#U0yg2m0vti3FXHOf.99

Methinks it might come out after the fact... LoL!!!  But for the record, it has Ashley Tisdale and Chad Michael Murray in it.  I'm just cracking up, partly because LaHaye hates the script (yet sold the rights out for cash, so shut up, already), and party because Hollywood will probably get closer to the true end times story than La Haye ever did.  Seriously... you can't have gotten much further from the truth, anyhow.  And as I was telling my friend Trent, if you want to get a message out globally...?  Hollywood is your best option.  Maybe Balaam is about to be called in, again...?  The guy writing the script has written 'chrischun' movie scripts for 24 years... so my hope is that he's abandoned LaHay's retarded (and very wrong) pre-Trib stance and is going for a more pre-Wrath stance, this time.  Of course, it's likely neither has ANY idea where we are.  And who knows, they might not even get the movie out in time.

It's definitely interesting times we're living in...!!

Winter Wonderland

This past weekend, I heard that a big snowstorm was going to hit Chicago on Tuesday.  That means that we get it on Wednesday, being just on the other side of the lake.  But y'know what?  It hit early.  And HARD.  And since I'm thinking I'm going to use what left of the week (now that's I'm feeling slightly better... a shower this afternoon will REALLY help), and I'm going to work on pictures.  Here's what I took of the snow this morning.

Out by Brian's barn, and the play yard.
They go up like that another 20 feet.  It's... wOw.

Out the front window, to the drive/garden.
That's not a hosta, it's one of my 8ft verbena bushes.
The snow is so heavy, it collapsed it.  I've got some concerns!!

I can't tell if it's coming down still, or not - there's a steady stream of huge flakes descending, but it could be off the trees... I don't know, though.  I almost think it's still snowing.  It's beautiful, I'll give it that!  It's like being back home in the Upper Penninsula (I grew up near Marquette).  Lower Michigan never gets THIS heavy, and my bushes have NEVER collapsed like that!

Needless to say, there's no public school in session in West Michigan.  Which means no dance class tonight - which is REALLY nice for me, because I'm better but not fully up-to-par, and wasn't sure if I should a) stay home, b) go, and stay in the car, or c) just go and call myself over the contagious part.  Now I don't have to worry - I can work on pictures, VACUUM (you have NO idea...), and bake something yummy... because nothing has smelled good around here in a few days, now, and that's NOT how things roll in my home.  And of course the kids are SO excited about getting out today to play in this stuff.