Novica.com Review and Giveaway! **CLOSED **CLOSED

**CLOSED!! Winner posted here**



I've shopped at Novica before and have always been impressed. It's a wonderful site where artists all over the world can create items for people to buy. From brooches from Peru to silver heart shaped necklaces to batik robes, the site has it all.


I was able to pick out something from the site. Natalie wanted me to get a silk fan but I was on the search for a purse, since my current one broke.

I found one that I really liked.

It arrived like this:

I've always loved how items from Novica arrive. As you can see, a tiny booklet also accompanies your item explaining more about it.


I got this:

I have always liked owls.

It was made very well and I loved the colors:

Novica is offering a lucky reader a $50 gift certificate!

DISCLAIMER: Please note, taxes and duties are not included in the costs of freight if your order is being shipped outside of the US. Taxes and duties will need to be paid to the shipping company at the time of delivery. Please check with your local customs bureau for more information regarding taxes, duties and importation fees.



Mandatory Entry: Go to Novica.com and tell me what you'd purchase if you won the certificate!


Extra Entries:

--LIKE Novica on Facebook

--FOLLOW Novica on Twitter

--TWEET about this giveaway

--FOLLOW my blog


For each thing you do, please leave a separate comment. And PLEASE, if your e-mail address is not linked to your blog, leave it in your comment so I can easily get a hold of you, should you win.


I will run this contest until July 14th.


Good luck!


**I was given a gift certificate to write an honest post. My opinions are my own.**

A Knee Knocking Experience

Today was my first day as the pastor of Midway UMC (Wedowee).  I got there early hoping for a little bit of time to sit and reflect before the service began only to find that the sanctuary is used for adult Sunday School.  The class was taught by W.C. and it was a great one.  After listening to the teacher share homilies, scripture, love, and concern I found myself feeling very much at home.  Thank you Mr. W.C. for having a hand in calming the raging storm within me.  I had planned to sing and preach...you know...give them a full dose of who I am.  The Children's Minute was about letting their little lives shine for Jesus.  There a lot of children here and they all have the sweetest faces.  After Time with Children I stepped behind the podium to present God's word to the people.  Now let me tell you this did not come easy for me.  God and I wrestled over what I would be saying.  Saturday night late I finally "Let Go and Let God" trusting it would all work out.  The song I began with was "Broken and Spilled Out" and as the music keyed my vocal entrance I felt as if a hand was upon my throat...choking the air from my lungs.  It was frightening.  Some would call this a major panic attack....I felt as if it was Satan trying to silence me.  I finally coughed and the song just came out of my mouth.  It was definitely a God Thing.  My sermon came from Luke and the Lectionary.  I have never used one but thought as a beginning pastor it might be the way to go.  I wanted to use any of the three other scripture choices given...but for some reason Luke 9:51-62 was God's choice.  I began the sermon and realized  after reading it throught once that it did not have any major bells and whistles to keep the congregation glued to their seats.  I muttered to God...."Oh come on....the least you could do is give me something profound to say."  God responded back with ...."read it again, please."  I did...and it was as if a light bulb came on.  This sermon was going to be about three types of Christians....who were all me at one time or another in my life.  I saw myself in every person Jesus met on the road.  My fingers flew fast and furious across the keyboard of the computer as God wrote his message for me....my lifesong.  Before I knew it we were singing the closing hymn and the service was over.  I found myself asking...."where did the time go?"  The final prayer was spoken and church was over.  I was officially a preacher with my own church.  Definitely a God Thing.

Timeline 1750-1759

1750

Over a million people live in colonial America.

The British Parliament passes The Iron Act, limiting the growth of the iron industry in the American Colonies

The word "bluestocking," is used as a put-down for learned women.

Neoclassicism as a reaction against baroque and rococo styles spreads over Europe.

The first American coal mine opens on the James River in Virginia.

The river flatboat and the Conestoga wagon first appear in Pennsylvania.

The first playhouse opens in New York City.

The first Great Awakening ends when Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) is forced to resign from his church in Northampton, MA because of his emphasis on the sinful nature of man. He rejects the liberal "halfway covenant." He becomes pastor of a church in the frontier settlement of Stockbridge, in western Massachusetts.

The Currency Act is passed by the English Parliament, banning the issuing of paper money by the New England colonies.

Charlotte Ramsay Lennox (1720-1804) writes the first novel by an Ameican-born writer, The Life of Harriet Stuart. Lennox, born in New York and sent to England at the age of fifteen for schooling, remained there for the rest of her life. It is also the first novel with American settings, such as the Hudson River, Albany, and the Mohawk Valley.

1751

Britain passes the British Calendar Act, which places England and its colonies on the Gregorian Calendar beginning in 1752.

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1791) publishes "Experiments and Observations on Electricity," using the terms positive and negative for the first time. And he helps found the first “English Academy” in Philadelphia.

James Madison (1751-1836), fourth President of the U.S., is born in Port Conway, Virginia

The Ohio Company actively colonizes in the Ohio Valley.

Sugar cane grown in America is introduced in Louisiana by Catholic missionaries; it is used to make a kind of rum.

The minuet becomes Europe’s fashionable dance.

George II repeals the 1705 act, making slaves real estate in Virginia.

James Davis begins publishing the North Carolina Gazette, the colony’s first newspaper, in New Bern. He also prints North Carolina’s first book.

The first cricket match is held in New York City.

1752

French and Indian: The French begin building forts across Pennsylvania and into Ohio to stop British invasion of their territory.

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) performs his famous kite experiment, proving that lightning is electricity.

Thomas Bond (1712-1784) establishes the first general hospital in the colonies in Philadelphia, treating all except those with incurable or infectious diseases.

Martha Daniell Logan (1704-1779) writes a "Gardener's Kalendar." The Charleston, South Carolina, widow, plantation owner, schoolteacher, and horticulturist's publishes it in the South Carolina Almanack, published by John Tobler. Her work is significant as the first American treatise on gardening.

Charlotte Ramsay Lennox writes The Female Quixote; or, The Adventures of Arabella satirizing the idealized conventions of French romances. Ramsay would dramatize the novel as Angelica; or Quixote in Petticoats in 1758.

1753

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) and William Hunter are appointed as postmasters general for the American Colonies.

George Washington undertakes a difficult and ineffectual journey to persuade the French to withdraw from the Ohio valley

French troops from Canada seize the Ohio Valley in action leading up to the French and Indian War.

Moravians from Pennsylvania purchase a 100,000-acre tract in present-day Forsyth County in North Carolina from Earl Granville. They name the area Wachovia, which means “peaceful valley.” They establish the settlement of Bethabara in November.

Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778) publishes "Species Plantarum," establishing the names of plant species.

Elizabeth Sampson Ashbridge (1713-1755) writes an autobiography of her spiritual development Some Account of the Fore Part of the Life of Elizabeth Ashbridge. An ordained Quaker minister, she hints that the ability to free herself from male authority depends on her ability to accept God's authority. The work would be first published in 1774.

1754

George Washington kills ten French troops at Fort Duquesne, in the first violent clash of the French and Indian war. Washington leads a small group of American colonists to victory over the French, then builds Fort Necessity in the Ohio territory. In July, after being attacked by numerically superior French forces, Washington surrenders the fort and retreats.

The French and Indian War begins. France and Britain fight for seven years over the territory from Canada down the west side of the Mississippi River to New Orleans. In Europe, the conflict is called the Seven Years' War. Albany Plan of Union; June

King’s College in New York City is founded; it becomes Columbia University in 1784.

Benjamin Franklin's chopped-up snake, urging union of the colonies with the caption 'Join or Die', is the first American political cartoon. And he proposes to the Albany Congress that the colonies should unite to form a colonial government.

Esther Edwards Burr (1732-1758) begins writing her Journal. Burr chronicles daily life from 1754 to 1757, giving information on topics such as the founding of Princeton College, religious revivals, childbearing practices, the French and Indian War, and women's roles during the period. It would be published in several editions by Jeremiah Eames Rankin (1828-1904) as Esther Burr's Journal.An account of the kidnapping by Indians of Elizabeth Hanson (1648-1737), wife of John Hanson of Dover, New Hampshire was published posthumously in Philadelphia as God's mercy surmounting man's cruelty, exemplified in the captivity and redemption of Elizabeth Hanson, wife of John Hanson, of Knoxmarsh at Kecheachy, in Dover township, who was taken captive with her children, and maid-servant, by the Indians in New-England, in the year 1724.

1755

British General Edward Braddock (c.1695-1755) takes command of all English forces in America during the French and Indian War. In April, Gen. Braddock and Lt. Col. George Washington set out with nearly 2000 men to battle the French in the Ohio territory. In July, a force of about 900 French and Indians defeat those English forces in an ambush near Ft. Duquesne in Western Pennsylvania. Braddock is mortally wounded. Massachusetts Governor William Shirley then becomes the new commander in chief.

The first Conestoga wagons are acquired by George Washington for an expedition through the Alleghenies.

Sarah Haggar Osborn (1714-1796) writes a series of emotional letters on her spiritual awakening The Nature, Certainty, and Evidence of True Christianity. This work begins as a series of letters to a friend and represents a look back on Osborn's spiritual awakening. In 1799, Osborn would expand her letters into Memoirs of the Life of Mrs. Sarah Osborn.

1756

French under General Louis Montcalm (1712-1759) capture and destroy British colonial Fort Oswego in New York.

England declares war on France, as the French and Indian War in the colonies now spreads to Europe.

The governor of Pennsylvania, in response to Indian attacks, offers a bounty for Indian scalps. This act of war forces those remaining Quakers to resign from the Assembly, as it goes against the pacifist beliefs . This marks the true onset of the Age of Quietism within the Quaker community.

1757

William Pitt becomes England's Secretary of State and escalates the French and Indian War in the colonies by establishing a policy of unlimited warfare.

The first street lights—whale-oil lamps designed by Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)—are used on a few streets in Philadelphia.

The first public concert is held in Philadelphia.

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) is sent to London as a representative of the Pennsylvania legislature to negotiate for the heirs of William Penn and remains there for 5 years.

Martha Wadsworth Brewster (fl. 1725-1757) of Lebanon, Connecticut, writes Poems on Divers Subjects, containing poems, letters, & some prose works. Brewster tackles radical subject matter for an 18th century woman, including military events & the brutality of war. When the book first appears, Brewster has to demonstrate her authorship to a public skeptical that a woman could write poetry by publicly paraphrasing a psalm into verse.

1758

James Monroe (1758-1831) 5th President of the U.S., is born on April 28, in Westmoreland County, Virginia.

English forces at Lake George, New York, lose nearly two thousand men during a frontal attach against well-entrenched French forces at Fort Ticonderoga; French losses are 377. General Montcalm and his French troops are defeated and colonials begin settling there.

George Washington (1732-1799) and General John Forbes (1710-1759) take Fort Duquesne, later renamed Pittsburgh.

A school for Negroes is established in Philadelphia by the Anglican missionary group.

Molly (Mary) Brant (c.1736-1796), a Mohawk woman, becomes the partner of Sir William Johnson. She is largely responsible for the alliance between the Iroquois and the British.

A raiding party consisting of French and Shawnee warriors takes Mary Jemison (1743-1833) captive. She adopts Native American customs, which she retains all her adult life.

Jonathan Edwards becomes president of the College of New Jersey, later Princeton University.

The first North American Indian reservation is established on 3,000 acres in New Jersey.

Elizabeth Sandwith Drinker (1734-1807) begins writing her diary, which later becomes an in-depth portrait of an elite urban woman from Philadelphia in the late eighteenth century. Excerpts of the diary would be first published in 1889.

Charlotte Ramsay Lennox writes Henrietta, a novel concerning an orphaned French girl's adventures. It would be adapted by the author as the drama The Sister in 1769.

Annis Boudinot Stockton (1735-1801) writes "Epistle to Mr. S." This is one of Stockton's earliest poems and possibly the first poetry published by a New Jersey woman. The poem originally appeared in the New York Mercury and reveals a period of great sadness in Stockton's life--the time of her husband's extended and final illness. Stockton would become one of the most published American women poets of the century, with at least twenty-one of her poems appearing in prestigious newspapers and magazines.

Martha Brewster publishes Poems on divers subjects…A word of advice reserv'd for my two grand-sons, being yet babes. By Martha Brewster, of Lebanon.

Pennsylvania Quakers forbid their members from owning slaves or participating in the slave trade.

1759

The French surrender to the British at Quebec. Ft. Niagara is captured by the British.

A measles epidemic breaks out all over North America, wherever white people live.

Martha Dandridge Custis (1731-1802) marries George Washington (1732-1799).

Abigail Smith (1744-1818) is received into her father’s Congregational Church in Weymouth on June 24. Later that summer, she meets John Adams (1735-1826) in her father’s parsonage.
Colonial shipbuilders are producing nearly 400 vessels each year.

Thomas Penn (1702-1775) and Richard Penn establish the first recorded life insurance company, the Presbyterian Ministers fund, in Philadelphia.

Peter Harrison (1716-1775) designs the first U.S. synagugue, the Touro synagogue in Newport, RI.

War erupts between Cherokee Indians and southern colonists.

See
Yale Law School, The Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History, and Diplomacy. New Haven, CT.Burt, Daniel S., editor. THE CHRONOLOGY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE: AMERICA'S LITERARY ACHIEVEMENTS FROM THE COLONIAL ERA TO MODERN TIMES. Houghton Mifflin Internet.
HISTORY MATTERS. American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning (Graduate Center, CUNY) and the Center for History and New Media (George Mason University). Internet. http://historymatters.gmu.edu/

Firmoo.Com Glasses #Giveaway! **CLOSED

**CLOSED! Winner posted here**


I used to be blind.

Okay, that's dramatic.

But my eyesight used to be horrible.

Then I got Lasik.

Before that, I'd have to wear glasses. And even now, with Lasik, I can wear glasses for fun.

It's why I really like the site Firmoo.com. For those who don't know about Firmoo, they are a site that offers a wide variety of glasses at an affordable rate. They understand that people cannot afford to pay hundreds of dollars for a pair glasses.

Firmoo also offers one free pair or glasses (eyeglasses, sunglasses, etc..) to every customer with their Firmoo First Pair Free Program.

I really liked these sunglasses:

I enjoyed the choices from their Classic Series section:

If you want to learn more about Firmoo.com, check out their help page. Also, at the moment they are having an Independence Day sale (good until July 4th!) You can buy one pair of glasses and get one free!


Firmoo.com is offering a lucky reader a pair of glasses from the Classic Series section IF I can get at least 50 valid comments on this post. If I get less than 50 comments, 6 readers will receive a $20 voucher they can use on the site. (Will not include shipping. The voucher will go towards the cost of the frame.)




MANDATORY ENTRY: Go to Firmoo.com on their Classic Series page and tell me what pair of glasses you would pick if you won. <----If over 50 people do this, someone can win a free pair of glasses, shipping included! Still, 6 lucky people will win a $20 voucher to the site. If less than 50 do it, 6 people will win a $20 voucher they can use on the site. (Voucher can only be used towards the cost of the frame. It will not include shipping.)


I will run the contest for two weeks until the 13th of July.


Good luck!


**I was not paid for this post. My opinions are my own**

Timeline 1740-1749

1740

Samuel Richardson (1689-1761) publishes Pamela one of the first English novels.

A great fire destroys half of Charleston, South Carolina.

Large numbers of women join churches during the Great Awakening of the 1740s. Some have called this the “feminization of the church.” Open-air preaching, the charismatic phenomena, and the involvement of the poor all gain more public attention for this movement. Support comes from most American Protestant denominations, but not from Anglicans.

Fifty black slaves are hanged in Charleston, South Carolina, after plans for a 1739 revolt are found.

Aaron Moses witnesses a will, becoming the first Jewish person on record in North Carolina.

South Carolina passes the comprehensive Negro Act, making it illegal for male and female slaves to move abroad, assemble in groups, raise food, earn money, and learn to read English. Owners are permitted to kill rebellious slaves if necessary.

Georgia and Carolina attempt to invade Florida in retaliation for the territory's policy toward runaways.

War of the Austrian Succession begins after the death of Emperor Charles VI and eventually results in France and Spain allied against England. The conflict is known in the American colonies as King George's War and lasts until 1748.

1741

Elizabeth Lucas Pinckney introduces indigo cultivation in South Carolina; by 1742 she has a successful crop.

Elizabeth Pinckney sights a comet whose appearance was predicted by Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727).

American revivalism is inflamed by Jonathan Edwards' vivid sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God delivers at Enfield, Massachusettes.

The second slave uprising takes place in New York; 26 slaves are killed and 71 deported.

The first labor strike occurs in New York City when bakers protest the regulation of the price of bread.

A law is enacted requiring all newly freed slaves to leave North Carolina within six months.

1742

Moravians (Church of the United Bretheran) found a school in Germantown, Pa. (later Bethlehem); this will grow into the Moravian Seminary for Young Females (from 1805, the Young Ladies Seminary), one of the earliest American girls’ boarding schools.
Georg Frederic Handel’s (1685-1759) "The Messiah" is performed in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

The fishing industry grows in New England; there are nearly 1,000 fishing boats.

"COMPLETE HOUSEWIFE," an English cookbook by Eliza Smith, appears in Williamsburg. Virginia.

Cornelia Smith Bradford (c. 1700-1755) takes over the responsibilities for the AMERICAN WEEKLY MERCURY. From 1742 until 1744, she published the paper with the help of one assistant. After 1744, she became the sole editor and printer until the paper folded in 1746.
Printer Ann Franklin (1695-1763) of Newport, Rhode Island, printed on one sheet A SHORT NARRATIVE OF THE UNJUST PROCEEDINGS OF MR. GEORGE GARDNER OF NEWPORT DISTILLER, AGAINST ANN MAYLEM WIDOW AND ADMINISTRATRIX TO THE ESTATE OF JOHN MAYLEM (1695-1742) LATE OF NEWPORT DISTILLER DECEASED.

Isabella Marshall (Mrs. John Graham) 1742-1814, was born in Scotland. She moved to New York City where she opened a school for girls and formed relief societies for the destitute sick, widows, and orphans.

1743

The first American town meeting is held in Boston’s Faneuil Hall.

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), 3rd U.S. President, is born in Virginia.

In Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin drafts the founding document for the American Philosophical Society.

A “pesthouse” is established in Philadelphia to quarantine immigrants.

1744

Benjamin Franklin publishes his design for an improved stove in Account of the New Invented Pennsylvania Fire Place (or Franklin Stove) which provides much more heat on much less fuel than regular fireplaces.

Abigail Smith (1744-1818), wife of John Adams, is born on November 11, in Weymouth, Massachusettes.

Elizabeth (Eliza) Pinckney (1722-1793) develops indigo as a commercial crop in the Carolinas.

Sarah Parsons Moorhead (fl. 1741-1742) writes "LINES... DEDICATED TO THE REV. MR. GEORGE TENNENT." Moorhead's poem sharply criticizes the Great Awakening evangelical clergyman: "O dear sacred TENNENT, pray beware. / Lest too much Terror, prove to some a Snare." She believed that the religious revivalism of the period had become an emotional "Drunkard's song." She lived in Boston during the 1740s.

1745

Thomas Cadwalader (1708-1779) publishes America’s first medical pamphlet describing the treatment of lead poisoning caused by drinking rum distilled in lead pipes.

Men and women make Whist a popular card game.

The first carillon in America is installed in the belfry of Christ Church, Boston.

Cadwallader Colden writes Explication of the First Causes of Action in Matter, and, of the Causes of Gravitation. In this scientific critique, Colden takes on Newtonian physics by claiming to have discovered the cause of gravity. Colden's contemporaries are baffled by his logic and subsequent scholars have dismissed his ideas. Plantae Coldenghamiae, a treatise on medicine, moral philosophy, and natural science, would follow it in 1749.

1746

Benjamin Franklin (1705-1790) explains weather patterns, pressure systems, and water spouts. He begins his experiments with electricity.

The College of New Jersey is founded; it becomes Princeton University in 1896.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) contracts for "A Dictionary of the English Language."

Lucy Terry (c. 1730-1821) writes "BARS FIGHT, AUGUST 28, 1746." Lucy Terry Prince was among the residents of Deerfield, Massachusetts, traumatized by an Abenaki raid on the village. Lucy, a slave, described the horrific event in "The Bars Fight," the earliest known poem by a black writer in North America. The work is also the most accurate account of what happened that day. Five colonists died, one was badly wounded, and another was taken captive.

1747

The first legal society, the New York Bar Association, is founded in New York City.

A measles epidemic sweeps through Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina.

In England, Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) publishes “A Plan of a Dictionary of the English Language.”

A new wave of Highlanders begins arriving in North Carolina after the failed revolt in Scotland in 1746. Forced from their Scottish homelands, these immigrants settle mainly in the Cape Fear Valley.

The Ohio Company is formed to extend colonial settlements of Virginia westward; rivalry for the West, especially for the upper Ohio Valley, increases between France and Great Britain.

1748

A circulating library opens in Charleston, South Carolina.

Martha Wayles (1748-1782), wife of Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), is born on October 30 in Charles City County, Virginia.

Lucy Terry's (c. 1730-1821) "Bars Fight" is published.

Georgia becomes a Crown Colony and Trustees of Georgia colony revoke their prohibition on slavery in the colony, marking a legal recognition of slavery there.

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) invents the lightning rod, installing one on his Philadelphia house.

The Philadelphia Academy is founded; it becomes the University of Pennsylvania in 1791.

The Ohio Company makes its first settlement around the forks of the Ohio River.

James Davis installs North Carolina’s first printing press in New Bern. His first publications are government documents.

Black slavery is legalized in Georgia.

First American repertory acting company established in Philadelphia; it opens with Thomas Keane in Richard III.

1749

Jewish Congregation Beth Elohim (The House of God) is founded in Charleston, South Carolina.

Georgia repeals its prohibition and permits the importation of black slaves.

See Burt, Daniel S., editor. THE CHRONOLOGY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE: AMERICA'S LITERARY ACHIEVEMENTS FROM THE COLONIAL ERA TO MODERN TIMES. Houghton Mifflin Internet.
HISTORY MATTERS. American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning (Graduate Center, CUNY) and the Center for History and New Media (George Mason University). Internet. http://historymatters.gmu.edu

We Went To Disney World Part Three: Hollywood Studios

“If you get scared, it’s okay to back out,” I told Natalie.

She shook her head. “I’m fine!” She seemed irritated that I would even suggest that she’d back out.

But. Well. The Tower of Terror was scary. The elevator lifted you up and then DROPPED YOU BACK DOWN! Several times!

It would be Natalie first fast ride. (And sorry about the large photos. I'm not sure what's up with the uploader thingy today. I kept pushing small size.)

We were at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and she was ready to ride. Her cousins took her on while I waited at the exit. As I was pacing the exit, small children would emerge. CRYING. They appeared to be Natalie’s age. I thought she’d come out in tears.

Nope.

She came dancing out and proclaimed that she loved it.

“It was so fun. It made my tummy feel silly!” she told me.

Ha.

So basically, my children are braver than I am.

Natalie also got to see Disney Junior: Live on Stage.

FYI: you sit on the floor when you see this. It’s not exactly the most comfortable thing. But Natalie loved it because it featured Doc McStuffins and Sofia the First. Also, different things rain down on you. For Doc McStuffins, it was bubbles. For Sofia, it was “snow.” For Jake and the Neverland pirates, it was paper gold circles.


We also saw The Little Mermaid show. Also fantastic with awesome effects. We did Star Tours, which both kids loved. Tommy’s picture actually popped up as the Rebel Spy before the ride started.


We had lunch at Pizza Planet:

Take a look at that cupcake. It was amazing. Look at all that icing!


We also met Lightening McQueen and Mater.

And because I didn’t have my fill of cupcakes, we went to a place called Starring Rolls and got these:

Tommy rode on the Aerosmith roller coaster with his cousins while Natalie and I waited. She was too small for that one. She would have done it if she was able to. I’ll pass. I can’t do the super fast rides anymore.


We also got to see Beauty and the Beast live on stage:

So I would say that we had fun at Hollywood Studios.



Next Post will be about Animal Kingdom and Epcot!

Five Minute Friday - In-Betweens

Got five minutes? Let’s write. Let’s finger paint with words.  Let’s just write and not worry if it’s just right or not. Here’s how to play along:

1. Write for 5 minutes flat for pure unedited love of the written word.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. Go leave some comment props for the five minute artist who linked up before you.
It’s a great way to catch your breath at the end of a long week.  If you have the verifications button on it really makes it nice if you take them off.  There are some of us out there with bi-focals who have a hard time with them.   OK, are you ready? Let’s see your best five minutes for the prompt:

In-Between

Go:
 For the past couple of days my daughter has been in-between Moldova and home.  She has been working with orphans for the past month and living on CEE time which is about 8 hours ahead of Rock Mills, AL.  Planning Skype calls in-between her being awake and me being asleep has been amusing.  She has called a few times in the wee hours...in-between night and morning....and I have too.  One afternoon I called her....and she sounded so sleepy....well yeah...it was after 1 in the morning over there.   Late Wednesday night in Alabama she was supposed to board a plan early on Thursday morning heading home.  See how confusing this gets?  On this flight she was to be flying with a group from Florida who had spent the last week with her and the little ones at the orphanage.  None of them made that flight...it was cancelled.  Kat was rebooked solo on one that was to leave several hours later(the Florida group would be leaving on Friday....and Saturday).....but now instead of landing in Atlanta at 6 pm on Thursday night....she would be landing at midnight....hopefully.  In-between point A and point B there were storms raging.  The leg from Chisinau to Munich was not a problem.  Flight made in Munich...even though she was on standby.  In-between Munich and Chicago....things went awry and the plane was diverted to Toronto to refuel.  The results were somewhere in-between Toronto and Chicago Kat missed her flight and had to spend the night in Chicago....in-between there and here.  Early Friday morning she boarded her flight and flew the in-between distance to come home.  Brian, her husband spent the night in the Atlanta area because he was in-between home and Atlanta when we learned she was not on the first plane.  Poor B.  Friday he was waiting on her when her plane touched down.  He was in-between the bottom of the escalator and the door...waiting....with a sign to let her know her homecoming was much appreciated.  I think this is the longest time they have evern been apart.  Brian is such a great guy and this is what she was met with....inbetween the tram and baggage claim.

Do you think he is happy?  Off to baggage claim, then to the car, and finally they only had one in-between left....they were still in-between Atlanta and Montgomery....two hours home.  In-betweens can be a tough place to be.  Whether you are in-between a sibling or in-between in your travels.  It is sometimes a time of stress.  I know it was for Kat, for Brian, and for her momma.  You know....your children grow up, marry, move away.....but when your adult child is in distress....the momma bear in us all rises to the occassion and wants to move heaven and earth to fix it.  "All's well that ends well"....I suppose.  Welcome Home Kat!  We will get together soon at the in-between, Auburn(1 hour each way for both of us)....and celebrate a belated birthday!

STOP

Timeline 1730-1739

1730

The population in the colonies is estimated at 655,000

William Parks of Maryland establishes a printing press in Virginia.

Baltimore is founded in the Maryland colony.

Both men & women begin wearing white stockings, made of silk or cotton.

John Wesley (1703-1791) & Charles Wesley (1707-1788) found the Methodist sect in Oxford, England

North Carolina Cherokee leaders visit London & confer with the king. They pledge friendship to the English & agree to return runaway slaves & to trade exclusively with the British.

America's first synagogue, Shearith Israel (The Remnant of Israel) is built on Mill Street in Lower Manhattan.

1731

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) and members of his Junto Club found a circulating library in Philadelphia, the Library Company of Philadelphia.

Martha Dandridge Custis (1731-1802), wife of George Washington, is born on June 2 near Williamsburg, Virginia.

Work is begun on building Independence Hall in Philadelphia.

Public concerts are held in Boston & Charleston, S.C.

The Spanish reverse a 1730 decision & declare that slaves fleeing to Florida from Carolina will not be sold or returned.

1732

George Washington (1732-1799), first President of the United States, is born on February 22 in Virginia.

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) begins publishing "POOR RICHARD’S ALMANACK" (for the year 1733) which contains weather predictions, humor, proverbs, & epigrams.

The game of ninepins (bowling) is played for the first time in New York City.

A theatrical company from London performs for the first time in New York City.

Georgia is the last of the thirteen English colonies to be settled. It is established not so much for economic opportunity, but to be a military barrier between Spanish-owned Florida & the Carolinas. It is also set up as a refuge for former prisoners & the poor. It also would prevent slaves escaping from South Carolina from reaching Florida, where they could gain their freedom. Charter of Georgia; June 9.

Slaves aboard the ship of New Hampshire Captain John Major kill both captain & crew, seizing the vessel and its cargo.

1733

The Molasses Act, passed by the English Parliament, imposes heavy duties on molasses, rum and sugar imported from non-British islands in the Caribbean to protect the English planters there from French and Dutch competition.

James Oglethorpe (1696-1785) names Georgia in honor of King George II. He also founds the city of Savannah.

The first serious outbreak of influenza sweeps through New York City and Philadelphia; about three-fourths of the population is affected.

The New York "WEEKLY JOURNAL" is published by John Peter Zenger (1697-1746), opposing policies of the colonial government.

Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) preaches on “The Great Awakening” in New England—a religious revival that emphasizes man’s sinful nature.
Jews settle in Savannah, Georgia.

Quaker Elihu Coleman's A Testimony against That Anti-Christian Practice of MAKING SLAVES OF MEN is published.

Rebekah Chamblit (1706-1733) reportedly conveys A DECLARATION, DYING WARNING AND ADVICE OF REBEKAH CHAMBLIT. A YOUNG WOMAN AGED NEAR TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS, EXECUTED AT BOSTON SEPTEMBER 27TH. 1733. BEING THEN FOUND GUILTY OF FELONY, IN CONCEALING THE BIRTH OF HER SPURIOUS MALE INFANT, OF WHICH SHE WAS DELIVERED WHEN ALONE THE EIGHTH DAY OF MAY LAST, AND WAS AFTERWARDS FOUND DEAD... (See the Declaration on this blog.)

1734

John Peter Zenger, editor of the NEW YORK WEEKLY Journal, is imprisoned in New York for upholding freedom of the press. He is accused of libeling New York Governor William Cosby. In 1735, Zenger is acquitted when his attorney, Andrew Hamilton, says that the charges cannot be libelous because the accusations against Cosby were true. While Zenger is imprisoned, his wife continues to publish the newspaper.

1735

John Adams (1735-1826), 2nd President of the U.S., is born on October 30, in Massachusetts.

The first opera performed in the colonies, “Flora,” opens in Charleston, South Carolina.

Women’s status in the colonies changes due to increasing wealth. Newspapers tell of runaway wives and elopements.

John Peter Zenger: A BRIEF NARRATIVE OF THE CASE AND TRYAL OF JOHN PETER ZENGER. Zenger explains the story of the court case that links his name to the notion of freedom of the press. Arrested for alleged libelous statements made in several issues of the New-York Weekly Journal in 1734, Zenger had been brought to trial in 1735. The jury found him not guilty, & the acquittal gained an important precedent for American freedom of the press

Under an English law Georgia prohibits the importation & use of black slaves. Georgia petitions Britain for the legalization of slavery.

Louis XV, King of France, declares that when an enslaved woman gives birth to the child of a free man, neither mother nor child can be sold. Further, after a certain time, mother and child will be freed.

Scots-Irish immigrants begin coming to North Carolina in large numbers, settling mainly in the Piedmont. Most are second-generation colonists moving south down the Great Wagon Road from Pennsylvania, Maryland, & Virginia, but a few come directly from Northern Ireland.

Ann Smith Franklin publishes "A BRIEF ESSAY ON THE NUMBER SEVEN." She is one of the first women printers in the American colonies, and the essay deals with the possible biblical significance of the number seven.

1736

Charles Theodore Pachelbel (1690-1750) gives organ concerts in New York City, bringing the Bach tradition to the New World.

Elisabeth Mixer, daughter of Deacon John Mixer and Abigail Fiske who had married in Connecticut on 15 August 1695 and gave birth to Elisabeth on 30 December 1702, revealed AN ACCOUNT OF SOME SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES AND RAPTUROUS AND PIOUS EXPRESSIONS OF ELISABETH MIXER…OF WHAT GOD HAD DONE FOR HER SOUL, IN ORDER TO HER ADMISSION INTO THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN ASHFORD.

1737

The first colonial copper coins are minted, also in Connecticut.

Thomas Penn, son of William, attempts to claim more lands from the Minisink tribe of the Delaware. The original agreement, made by William Penn , was that as much land would be claimed as a man
could walk in a day & a half, understood by all to mean 30 miles. Thomas Penn, wanting to expand further west, hires two trained athletes to "walk" along newly cut paths & assists them with boats across streams. The "walkers" cover sixty miles & this incident becomes known as The Walking Purchase, the beginning of the end for the Quaker peace policy in the colony

1738

Population in the colonies is estimated at 800,000.

A smallpox epdemic begins in South Carolina.

The first successful glass factory is founded in Salem County, New Jersey.

Mail is first carried regularly through North Carolina on the post road that runs from Boston to Charlestown, S.C.

Elizabeth Timothy (?-1757) begins publishing the weekly newspaper, the "SOUTH CAROLINA GAZETTE."

John Wesley (1702-1791) and George Whitefield (1713-1779) immigrate to Savannah, Georgia as leaders of the “Great Awakening.” Whitefield's sermons promote the "Great Awakening" throughout the 1740s. One of the thousands impressed by his eloquence is Benjamin Franklin, who writes in his Autobiography, "I happened soon after to attend one of his Sermons, in the Course of which I perceived he intended to finish with a Collection, & I silently resolved he should get nothing from me. I had in my Pocket a Handful of Copper Money, three or four silver Dollars, and five Pistoles in Gold. As he proceeded I began to soften, and concluded to give the Coppers. Another Stroke of his Oratory made me asham'd of that, and determin'd me to give the Silver; & he finish'd so admirably, that I empty'd my Pocket wholly into the Collector's Dish, Gold and all." Other preachers in this movement included Theodore Frelinghuysen of the Dutch Reformed Church, Gilbert Tennent (Presbyterian), and Jonathan Edwards.

Georgia's trustees permit the importation of black slaves.

Mary Katherine Goddard born in Connecticut. Becomes publisher of the Maryland Journal and 1st female postmistress. (See posting on Mary Katherine Goddard in this blog.)
Spanish Florida promises freedom and land to runaway slaves.

Imprint about Patience Boston (1711-1735) was published in Boston by S. Kneeland and T. Green, A FAITHFUL NARRATIVE OF THE WICKED LIFE AND REMARKABLE CONVERSION OF PATIENCE BOSTON ALIAS SAMSON; WHO WAS EXECUTED AT YORK, IN THE COUNTY OF YORK, JULY 24TH. 1735. FOR THE MURDER OF BENJAMIN TROT OF FALMOUTH IN CASCO BAY, A CHILD OF ABOUT EIGHT YEARS OF AGE, WHOM SHE DROWNED IN A WELL.

1739

War of Jenkins' Ear: England declares war on Spain; border skirmishes erupt between colonists in South Carolina and Georgia and the Spanish in Florida.

A measles epidemic breakes out in Boston.

Moravian Church founded in America by Bishop A. G. Spengenberg(1704-1792). Moravians introduce Saint Nicholas as a central feature of Christmas celebrations.

Violent uprisings by black slaves occur on three separate occasions in South Carolina. The Stono Rebellion refers to slaves in Stono, South Carolina, sacking & burning an armory & killing whites. The colonial militia puts an end to the rebellion before slaves are able to reach freedom in Florida.

Eliza Lucas Pinckney (c. 1722-1793) begins writing her journal. Her compiled letters and journal become the life chronicle of one of the leading women of the colonial era, a prominent South Carolina planter and mother of political figure Charles Pinckney (1757-1824). Not published until 1850, it reveals an intellectually curious successful 18th century businesswoman.

See Burt, Daniel S., editor. THE CHRONOLOGY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE: AMERICA'S LITERARY ACHIEVEMENTS FROM THE COLONIAL ERA TO MODERN TIMES. Houghton Mifflin Internet.
HISTORY MATTERS. American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning (Graduate Center, CUNY) and the Center for History and New Media (George Mason University). Internet. http://historymatters.gmu.edu/
Yale Law School, The Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History, and Diplomacy. New Haven, CT.

 

Things That Annoy Me Thursday: Parade Pushers

“Excuse me,” the woman said, trying to wedge her stroller next to me so that my son was squished into my leg in an uncomfortable manner.

“Excuse me,” I repeated. “No.”

She was not about to push my son out of the way. She should have been here an hour ago when I was. Finding a spot for the daily Disney World parade is serious business. Everyone knows this. If you want a curb spot, you find one early. You do not shove other people out of the way. It will not work. I don’t care if you have an infant.

“If I could just…” the woman tried again and one of the stroller wheels went over Tommy’s hand.

“No.” I said this firmly and stared at the woman with my angry eyes. I probably did look frightening. I had been sitting out in the hot sun. Sweat was pouring down my face. I imagine I resembled a lobster. I would not be shoved from my seat by a stroller. My son would not be forced onto my lap. It was too hot for that.

The woman gave up when she saw I meant business. She was not happy. I think she called me a rude name under her breath as she stalked away. Well, sorry. Get to the curb earlier. (And she didn’t even have a kid in the stroller. It wasn’t like I was pushing away an innocent child. I saw no tiny human beings with her. For all I know, she used the stroller to get people out of her way.)

Sometimes you have to fight for your spot at Disney World. But it was worth it.

Yeah, see the Evil Stepmother’s look? That’s the look I gave Stroller Lady.

A New Hat for Karen

Well it is official.  If I said I was not scared I would be lying.  As of today I am the official supply pastor(certified lay speaker - not licensed) of Midway UMC.  This sweet little church is a short distance from my home in Rock Mills.  It is midway between Roanoke and Wedowee.  Frank and I attended their Sunday night service, I taught their Bible Study on Wednesday night, became their pastor on Thursday and will be working VBS Friday and Saturday night and Sunday morning will deliver my first message to them.  I have met a lot of my congregation....that sounds funny saying....and they have all been wonderful.  Some of my readers may be saying bout now, "What?"  Well...let me tell you about my road between Karen....the Spanish teacher to Karen the Spansh/English teacher/part-time preacher.  It has been quite a ride.  In the Spring of 2007 I had a dream that Frank and I were living in Texas and he was attending seminary.  I shared my dream with him and unbeknownst to me he had been fighting a calling for a long time.  The next thing I knew we were off to be ministers (me as the pastor's wife) at Waverly UMC.  Now...funny thing here.....I have always loved the town of Waverly.  They have a musical road and gorgeous old houses.....and TA DAH....here I was...part of this magical town.  I loved it.  We were there for three years.  Being in Waverly was a definite God thing.  My father died during our tenure there, my mom was diagnosed with alzheimer's, and the congregation of Waverly loved me through it all.   I would never have made it without them.  While we were at Waverly I got to continue my ministry with the Arbor Service at FUMC in Alex City where we lived.  Life was great....and then God spoke to me and told me he had something else for me to do.  I could not imagine what it could be.  In 2010 we moved to Rock Mills, AL and once again I was in a town where I actually accepted Christ as my Savior when I was 8 and Uncle Leon was the pastor at Roanoke First United Methodist.  We would be living in a parsonage and I would have to give up the Arbor Service, but life goes on and it changes as it goes.  It was not as hard as I thought it would be to leave the Arbor because I knew God was directing me this way.  Oh I miss them all....but  I had a new church family and once again I fell in love with a congregation.  They would hold me up in prayers, love, and hugs when my mom died.  I love living here.  I think I am a country girl in a city girls body.  Rock Mills gives me peace.  I love being the pastor's wife, singing in a traditional choir, teaching Sunday School, working with the Youth program, and being a Porch Person....yet, even though I thought I was doing what I was supposed to do I still felt a tugging from God. Come on God.....I thought this was enough.  That is what I get for thinking. The whole issue here is I was doing the thinking and not doing what God wanted me to do.  I guess if you want to hear God laugh out loud tell Him what your plans are.   About a year a go I began having dreams about my retirement from teaching and believed God was preparing me for my next adventure...to be a traveling sales person for school books.  In the Spring of 2013(What is it about Springs?)  I taught a Sunday School lesson and one of the scripture verses, Isaiah 6:8 knocked me to my knees...literally.  God spoke to me in a clear and audible voice..."⁸ Then I heard the Lord’s voice saying, “Whom should I send, and who will go for us?”  I said, “I’m here; send me.”  I said nothing to Frank and we left the next week for the beach.  On our way to Panama City we passed three churches with that verse posted on their sign.  Talk about being antsy....I was as antsy as a cat in a room full of rockers.  The next week we went to Annual Conference for the church and once again that verse was spoken to me.....this time I did not walk...I ran to the District Supertindents wife....told her the story....we both cried...and went to find her husband to tell him.  We found the incoming Superintendent and told him that I needed to be used .....somewhere.  All the churches had pastors...so I did not know what this was leading to....after our trip to South Carolina I found out....there was a church who needed a pastor....and after prayer and discussion I knew it was to be me.  When I met with the D.S the first time....in the room where we had our conversation about what had been happening ....was a book of artwork with scriptures....and yep...you have got it....Isaiah 6:8 was the page it was opened to.  I knew right then and there that this was a God Thing!  I broke the news to Rock Mills on Tuesday and Bro Lewis and I met with the PPR (Pastor Parish Relations) and they handed me the keys on Thursday.  I am not perfect...I am forgiven.  I am not a seminary graduate even though I do hold a Master's Degree.  I am not young but I have a fire within me that says..."go and preach the word."  Nowhere does it say in the Bible that I have to be a seminary graduate to do this.  I may never be seen in a long black robe...but I will be seen on Sunday morning speaking(with shaking knees) the Word of God to the people of Midway for as long as He needs me.  "I am here, send me!"

Timeline 1710-1729 + Paintings of American Women

1710

3,000 German men and women from the Palatinate settle near Livingston Manor on the Hudson River in New York to produce naval stores. When the colony fails, the settlers go first to the Mohawk Valley (in New York) and finally to eastern Pennsylvania.

The English Parliament passes the Post Office Act which sets a postal system for the American colonies controlled by the postmaster general of London and his deputy in New York City.

New York forbids blacks, Indians, and mulattos from walking at night without lighted lanterns.

1711 Artist: Henrietta Johnston 1674-1729. Subject: Henriette Charlotte de Chastaigner, Mrs Nathaniel Broughton.

1711

Pennsylvania prohibits the importation of male & female blacks and Indians.

Rhode Island prohibits the clandestine importation of male & female black and Indian slaves. (See this blog for more information of enslaved women in the 18th century.)

1711-13

Tuscarora Indian War in North and South Carolina. Hostilities break out between Native Americans and settlers in North Carolina after the massacre of male & female settlers there.

1712

The Carolina colony is officially divided into North Carolina and South Carolina.

Charles II's Grant of New England to the Duke of York, 1676 - Exemplified by Queen Anne; October 30
The Pennsylvania assembly bans the import of male & female slaves into that colony.

In Massachusetts, the first sperm whale is captured at sea by an American from Nantucket.

Grace Smith writes The Dying Mothers Legacy: Or the Good and Heavenly Counsel of that Eminent and Pious Matron, Mrs. Grace Smith, late Widow to Mr. Ralph Smith of Eastham in New-England. Left as a Perpetual Monitor to Her Surviving Children; As It Was Taken from Her Own Mouth a Little Before Her Death, by the Minister From that Town Where She Died. Boston, Printed and sold by Timothy Green, at the lower-end of Middle-Street, 1712

An alleged slave revolt in New York City leads to violent outbreaks. Nine whites are killed and eighteen slaves are executed.

New York declares it illegal for male & female blacks, Indians, and slaves to murder other blacks, Indians, and slaves. And New York forbids freed blacks, Indians, and mulatto slaves from owning real estate and holding property.

In Charleston, South Carolina male & female slaves are forbidden from hiring themselves out.

1713

England's South Sea Company is allowed to transport 4,800 male & female slaves per year into the Spanish colonies of North America.

Queen Anne's War ends with the Treaty of Utrecht.

1714

George I becomes king of England (r. 1714–27).

Tea is introduced for the first time into the American Colonies.

1715 Artist: Henrietta Johnson 1674-1729. Subject: Mary Magdalen Gendron, Mrs Samuel Prioleu 1691-1765

1715
Yamasee tribes attack and kill several hundred male & female Carolina settlers.

Rhode Island legalizes slavery.

Maryland declares all slaves entering the province and their descendants to be slaves for life.

1716

South Carolina settlers and their Cherokee allies attack and defeat the Yamassee.

The first group of black slaves is brought to the Louisiana territory.

1717-18 Artist: Henrietta Johnston 1674-1729. Mary Griffith (Mrs Robert Brewton, Mrs William Loughton) 1698-1761.

1717

Scots-Irish immigration begins, with most settling to western Pennsylvania.

New York enacts a fugitive slave law.

1718

French found New Orleans.

The Tuscarora people are defeated in a war with North Carolina colonists. With many of their people killed they move north to live with other Iroquois nations in New York Colony.

Blackbeard, the pirate, is killed, putting an end to pirate raids along the southern colonial coast.

North Carolina’s first free school, endowed by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, opens at Bath.

1719 Artist: Henrietta Johnston 1674-1729. Subject: Judith DuBose (Mrs Joseph Wragg) 1698-1769.

1719-41

The American Weekly Mercury is the first newspaper launched in Philadelphia by Andrew Bradford (1686-1742). It would publish six of Franklin's "Busy-Body Papers" in 1729 and continue publication until 1746.

The Boston Gazette is the second newspaper in Boston is launched by William Brooker (fl. 1715-1720) and printed by Benjamin Franklin's older half-brother, James Franklin (1697-1735). The paper would become the official organ of the government and continue until 1741.

1720 Attributed to Gerrit or Gerardus Duyckinck Subject: Portrait of a Lady

1720 Artist: Gerardus Duyckinck 1695-1746. Subject: Mrs Johannes van Braght b 1673. Her husband was an alderman for the City of New York.

1720

Estimated population of colonies: 475,000. Including Boston (pop. 12,000), Philadelphia (pop. 10,000), and New York (pop. 7000).

A smallpox epidemic in Boston prompts Cotton Mather and Zabdiel Boylston to experiment with inoculation against the disease. Mather had learned of the practice from Onesimus, his slave, who had himself been inoculated as a child and knew inoculation to be a widely accepted medical practice in Africa.

1720-25 Attributed to Schuyler Limner (active ca. 1715–1725) Portrait of a Lady (possibly Tryntje Otten Veeder)

Benjamin Franklin leaves Boston for Philadelphia, a trip that he chronicles in his Autobiography.

South Carolina planters settle along the Lower Cape Fear River and begin developing the rice and naval stores industries. They bring large numbers of enslaved people and establish a large, plantation-style slave system.

Virginia abolishes manumissions.

1720-28 Artist: Gerardus Duyckinck 1695-1746 Subject: Grace Mears, Mrs Moses Levy

1724

The French build forts on the Mississippi, the St. Lawrence, and the Niagara rivers.

French Louisiana prohibits slaves from marrying without the permission of their owners.

The population of male & female black slaves in the American colonies reaches 75,000.

Riots occur in Philadelphia as poor people tear down the pillories and stocks and burn them.

1725 Artist: Charles Bridges 1670-1747. Subject: Evelyn(1708-1737) daughter of William Byrd II and Lucy Parke.

1725

Explanatory Charter of Massachusetts Bay; August 26

1726

Zabdiel Boylston: An Historical Account of the Smallpox Inoculated in New England. Boylston details his experiments with smallpox inoculation in Boston, in which only 6 of his 244 patients die of the disease. This figure compared with the 844 out of 5,757 Bostonians who died of smallpox naturally during the same epidemic. One of the first of its kind written by an American physician.

1727 John Smibert 1688 - 1751. Eleanor Nightengale

1727

George II becomes king of England

Benjamin Franklin founds the Junto Club.

Cadwallader Colden (1688-1776): History of the Five Nations. Colden's greatest achievement is this tribal history of the Iroquois Indians based on firsthand observation.

1728

Elizabeth Hanson (1684-1737) writes God's Mercy Surmounting Man's Cruelty, a polished literary account of Hanson's 1724 capture by the French and Indians. (See Hanson's account on this blog.)

Jewish colonists in New York City build the first American synagogue.

1729 Artist: John Smibert 1688-1751. Subject: Mrs. Tyng.

1729
Benjamin Franklin prints, publishes and largely writes the weekly Pennsylvania Gazette.


See Burt, Daniel S., editor. THE CHRONOLOGY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE: AMERICA'S LITERARY ACHIEVEMENTS FROM THE COLONIAL ERA TO MODERN TIMES. Houghton Mifflin Internet.
Yale Law School, The Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History, and Diplomacy. New Haven, CT.
HISTORY MATTERS. American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning (Graduate Center, CUNY) and the Center for History and New Media (George Mason University). Internet. http://historymatters.gmu.edu/

Hodge Podge - Vol 130

After a week's hiatus, Joyce and the Hodgepodge are back.YEAH!  I missed last week but understand that we all need a vacation.  Here are Joyce's questions...answer on your own blog, and be sure to hop back to Joyce's blog to link your answers with the whole wide world. A small corner of it anyway~

1. Summertime is a season of reunions, weddings, and other family celebrations and gatherings...are any of the above on your calendar in the next two months?  My 40 year class reunion was last August and it was a big deal.  We will be having a 60th birthday party bash sometime in 2014.  As far as reunions and weddings go this is a quiet year and the only reunions I have coming up is are family ones on July 4th and the Sasser/Matthews family reunion at the end of July at Camp Alamisco in Dadeville.  It is a 3 day event but since I now serve a church I am only going to be able to pop in for a visit on Saturday.  I have had two weddings since the end of school.

 

2. June is National Iced Tea Month...are you an iced tea drinker? If so, how do you like yours (sweet, flavored, etc)?   I love iced tea....unsweet.  I also love it hot (especially at bed time...camomille is my favorite hot one.)

 

3. When were you last nervous? Looking back, was the 'event' actually nerve-worthy?  The day I met with the District Superintendent of the Southeast District of the United Methodist church about getting a church, when I told the congregation at Rock Mills, and then a few days later when I met with the Midway Pastor Parrish Committee.  Not everyone is comfortable with a woman in the pulpit. 

4. The bristle toothbrush was invented in China on June 26, 1498...not sure how that date was pinned down so precisely but, on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being sick to your stomach and 1 being not at all, how nervous do you feel when you're headed to the dentist? Do you see your dentist twice a year?  Going to the dentist for me is a nightmare so I would say a 20.  When I was 15 months old I fell and knocked my front baby teeth loose.  My mom took me to a dentist and he ended up slapping me because I cried when he pulled the xray machine down to my 15 month old face.  My mom was livid.  I ended up going to a dentist who went to our church named Dr. Aliopoulis.  I thought he hun the moon and even after I moved to Alabama would go back to South Florida twice a year for check ups.  I finally found a local dentist that I loved.   I believe in going to the dentist twice a year....even though I do not like going.

5. What's making news in your town this week?  Fourth of July celebrations are on the front page.  Our paper only comes out once day a week.  There have been some other noteworthy news....shootings, a murder, a suicide, and a couple of wrecks.  There is a bull riding event coming up.  Most of our news has to do with local stuff.

 

6. Curtains, drapes, blinds...your window treatment of choice? Are there any bare windows in your house? Is that by choice or because you haven't gotten around to covering them?   There are no bare windows in my house.  I live in a parsonage so my windows are all taken care of by the Parsonage committee.  I have blinds and lace curtains in every room but the dining room.  I put sheers over the blinds there.  The kitchen has cafe curtains with an apple theme.  They match the border.  The laundry room has ivy cafe curtains.  The master bedroom has curtains that dim light.  I bought those to go with my bedspread. 

 

7. Summertime is officially here (in the Northern hemisphere anyway)...what one song is a must-have on your summer playlist?  I have to be honest.  I can't  just pick one.  I grew up in South Florida and love the beach....I love all the songs by the Beach Boys, Jan and Dean, anything to do with the beach.....and of course...anything by Jimmy Buffett.

 

8. Insert your own random thought here.  When is your favorite time to take vacation?  I am a teacher so I have summer's off....and love the beach...so I have to visit it at least once...or more from Memorial Day to Labor Day.    I also love fall vacations....the Smokies when the leaves are changing amaze me.  I am not much on winter vacations(cold is not my friend)....unless I head south back to the beach or Charleston.  I love spring time travel too...especially when things are blooming.  To be honest....when the car cranks I want to be in it.  I love packing...going...being there...and coming home again.  I hav 48 out of 50 US states under my belt....so maybe you have some ideas for me on what to do in Vermont and Alaska.  What is your favorite place to vacation and what is your favorite thing to do on a vacation.

 

We Went To Disney World Part Two: Bippity Boppity Boutique and Cinderella's Royal Table

“Wow!” Natalie peered at herself in the mirror. “I love it,” she whispered, twirling around. “I seriously love it.”

Well. I should hope so. The dress was $65. I don’t even spend $65 on my clothes.

Still, she deserved it. It can’t be easy to go many months without your daddy around. I wouldn’t know. I always had my dad.

We were at Disney World at the Bippity Boppity Boutique. It’s this fabulous place in Cinderella’s castle where fairy godmothers do hair and makeup. Not only for girls, either. There’s a Knight Package for the boys. There are various packages you can purchase. We went for the most expensive one. Yes, it was $189. Yes, I wanted to cry. Yes, we had to eat ramen and mac and cheese for a couple of days so I could save up for it. But. When I saw her face as she danced in her dress, I knew I made the right choice. (And don't feel sorry for Tommy. He got a Nintendo 3DS.)

She also got a crown and a wand. It made her feel special to pick out her items.

As I was cooing over her beautiful dress, I spilled my Diet Coke all over the couch. Oops. The fairy godmother (that's what all the workers are called there, fairy godmothers. No, there were no men. I guess they'd just be called sparkling godfathers or Liberace? I don't know) didn’t snap at me, she simply went to get some towels and wiped it up. I offered to help and she insisted that it was fine. Still. Of all places to spill, why did I choose CINDERELLA’S CASTLE?

Natalie was called back for her hair and makeup. She got to pick out her hairstyle and took this quite seriously. Too seriously, in fact. It took her FIVE MINUTES to figure out what she wanted. Her fairy godmother was incredibly patient. I could not be in that line of work. I'd be all, "Look, I'm wearing this ridiculous outfit and this ridiculous purple hat thing. I'd like to go home now. Let's move it."

She was all ready for her hair and makeup:

They have them put these shields on when they use hairspray. And they use a lot of hairspray. It felt like an 80s movie set at times.

Our fairy godmother was named Wanda. Wanda was a hair genius. I tried to pay attention to what Wanda was doing but lost her at about the third step. Sorry, Natalie. Your Mom does not know how to do hair. Is Wanda for sale?


Wanda and her fairy godmother in training asked Natalie if she planned on marrying a prince:

She was horrified. Her Daddy will be pleased that she still feels this way about the opposite sex.


Almost done! Wanda was very gentle. Natalie didn’t shout “OUCH!” at all like she does when I do her hair. It could be because I very rarely know what I am doing.

They get to pick out nailpolish too:

And makeup:

With the package, Natalie also got the rest of the nailpolish and makeup that was used. Plus the mini crown in her hair and a Mickey clip. Also a pink cinch backpack and a sash with a button. Her button read, “A Brave Princess” because she told them her daddy was gone. They said she was very brave. She also got a photo shoot where I received an 8X10 photo, plus 4 4X6s.

The makeup is done in a tasteful way. They do not look like the children on Toddlers and Tiaras.

See?

Her princess day was not over. We had reservations to eat at Cinderella’s Royal Table, the restaurant in the castle.


Here she is with her cousin waiting to go into the restaurant:

When you first go in, you get to meet Cinderella and take pictures with her. (My photos of that are on my PhotoPass card.) Then you are led upstairs to the actual room where you’ll eat.

We had window seats:

Princesses begin to come in:

Food begins to come in. I got the short ribs. Yum:

More princesses come in. Sometimes I had to greet them with a full mouth. I wasn't about to stop eating. I was HUNGRY.

Natalie told Ariel, “My Daddy likes redheads.” Ariel seemed a bit flustered and was like, “Lovely!”

Man, I would love Jasmine’s stomach. If only I didn’t like to eat so much. And I think she came over as I was stuffing my face with the cheesecake that I picked for my dessert.


After the princesses come out, a voice comes overhead (a friendly voice, not a sinister one) and tells the children to wave their wands that are on the tables and make a wish on their wishing stars:

Natalie takes her wishes seriously:

I asked her, “Aw, did you wish for your daddy to come home?” all ready for a moving moment. I gripped my napkin, prepared to dab my eyes with it. Natalie went, “No. I wished that I could be a mermaid.” Oh.


Yes, the kids get to keep the wands and the wishing star.


I highly recommend the restaurant. The food is fantastic. And bonus, if you’re gluten free as my mother-in-law is, they have something for you to eat. The chef even comes out to speak to you. My mother-in-law had the fish, plus the flourless chocolate cake, which was also delicious. (Disney World actually has gluten free at almost ALL the places they have to eat. My mother-in-law was able to eat something wherever we stopped.)


It was a good day though halfway through, Natalie said her dress was itchy. So have a change of clothes. Unless my daughter is just super picky. (Is it wrong that I had to bite my tongue from saying, "Lady, you'll keep the dress on. It was $65.")?


Next up in my Disney post is about Hollywood Studios! Did Natalie decide to go on the Tower of Terror or did she wimp out? Dah-dah-DUN!