I'm the incredibly blessed mother of 9, "Granny" to , and wife of "The Papa," the knight-in-shining-armor whose loving support has made it possible for me to stay home and give my life to mothering, homemaking, and 26 years of homeschooling. Life at Granny's House is full of laughter, friendship, books, music, lively debate, writing, and good things to eat. My days are made even more meaningful by coming alongside other moms, giving them the support and encouragement that I lacked as a young mother and helping them to network with each other in ways that strengthen homes and families. A few times a year I board a plane to visit my "away" kids, to attend the birth of a grandchild, or to enjoy some lazy days with my best friend, but I always love coming back to...Granny's House.
I haven't signed up to use this site but I just might. And those of you who are in college, grad school, or types of work where mastery and retention of details is important just might want to check out.
One of the fun things about getting ready for vacation this year has been planning the food. We're going to be in a lodge with a nice kitchen, and the girls and I are taking turns being responsible for meals. Since we don't *sniff, sniff* all live in the same state, we would ordinarily have done this by phone and email. But THIS year we have a new toy: GoogleDocs Spreadsheet. We made a grid with all the meals while we're together, along with times we expect to be eating out, and each of the four nuclear families filled in squares until everything was decided. Then below the meal grid we made lists of all the things we need, both for the meals and for laundry, trash, cleanup, etc. It's been so much fun! And who'd have known that Annie wanted to make Beef Wellington and Baked Alaska for all of us? Oh wait...no it was spaghetti and Texas Cake, but it's going to be wonderful...
GoogleDocs also has a chat feature built right into the app, so we can all get on and dicuss the changes we're making or ask each other questions. It's definitely the easy way to do a spreadsheet...Unlike Excel, GoogleDocs are stored on the web and so we don't have to email the changes back and forth and wonder if we have the latest version. The latest version is there instantaneously and I can see the changes the girls are making in real time (and of course instantly overrule them if I don't like what they're making LOL).
If you're familiar with Excel, Google will be a breeze. Even if you're not, it's very easy to learn, so jump right in there. And for the courageous, you can even import Excel docs into Google so you can collaborate with others...
So if you're doing a vacation or family reunion or church retreat or homeschool support group getaway, give it a try--it's almost as cool as the actual event!
We're only halfway through the year and I'm ready to award the Cool Website of the Year award. I won't describe--I'll just say that if you're a language lover you cannot miss this. Just make sure you've taken care of all essentials for the day because you might be tempted to skip whatever's left and play at this site for hours...start by typing a random word in the box at the top. I am mesmerized!
Here's a fascinating site for researching and comparing the demographics of your zip code with any other in the nation or with the state or nation as a whole....stats on education, income, population density, racial/ethnic diversity, age, and many more interesting facts.
Here is a link to the Pyranna, the product that Trish mentions in the Sunday snippet comments. I haven't ordered one yet, but she loves it and I know I need one!
"...Tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done....that the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, that they may arise and tell them to their children." ~Psalm 78:4-6
My Focal Passage for 2011...
Oxymoronica...
"The vanity of being known to be trusted with a secret is generally one of the chief motives to disclose it."
~Samuel Johnson
[Oxymoronica, n., A compilation of self-contradictory terms, phrases, or quotations; examples of oxymoronica appear illogical or nonsensical at first, but upon reflection, make a good deal of sense and are often profoundly true.]
Books on the iPhone, the Kindle, or on the nightstand...
Name:
