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At first glance you might think that we're now running mock stories. Sorry, no such luck.
Instead, long-standing speculation has now given way to fact: Stephen King is writing a sequel novel to The Shining - more to the point, he has some of said sequel already written, he recently read some it, and we have video of his reading.
The sequel will be called Dr. Sleep, and it will follow The Shining's young protagonist, Danny, 30 years after the incident at the Overlook Hotel. Danny now uses his psychic powers to literally ease the minds of terminally-ill patients in hospice care. Things get twisted when "psychic vampires" show - and Psychic vs. Vampire battle ensues?
By now, most people are familiar with the aggravation that comes with learning about another unnecessary movie sequel - it's kind of new to feel that aggravation about a novel, but that sentiment is already out there and swelling. It will be hard to convince a lot of people that The Shining needs a continuation -let alone that words 'The Shining' and 'vampires' even belong in the same sentence. Here at Screen Rant, we're already nervous about a possible (semi-)sequel to Stanley Kubrick's classic 1980 film adaptation of The Shining, as we're sure a lot of other movie fans are as well.
Sure, Pet Sematary II and Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace have their fair share of fans - but typically speaking, movies sequels spun out of Stephen King stories don't have a good track record. Would the result be different since King himself is crafting this new tale? Maybe the acclaimed author has a sweet twist that will make this another great story in his litany of great stories - but in our opinion, it'll have to be one hell of a trick.
Judge for yourself after listening King himself read a passage from Dr. Sleep to a George Mason University audience:
The idea of psychics battling vampires has been done (see: Brian Lumley's expansive Necroscope series) - however, listening to the passage King read, it's clear that Dr. Sleep has some heavy Americana themes (Medicare, RV people, American roadways), possibly serving as some sort of social allegory in similar fashion to how The Shining examined themes like family dynamic and addiction. If that's the case, one can only speculate about the possible implications of the title (on the one hand, an obvious reference to Danny's character, but beyond that...?).
How do you feel about a sequel to The Shining? What about a possible movie sequel? Let us know in the comments - or vote in our poll below:
[poll id="196"]


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14280 W 50th PlGolden, Colorado 80403
United States
Phone: 303 278 9268
See map: Google Maps
Air Pollution Control System Advisement, Equipmenet Sizing, Duct Design and Project Management support. We work with: Dust, Fume and Chemical Vapor Contorl Systems of all types. We offer retrofits to existing systems, new equipment as well as help with applying used equipment..

subset: commoncrawl


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The Central Connecticut women's track & field team finished in ninth place after day one of the New England Championships. Central posted 11 points on opening day of meet competition.
Placing third in the distance medley relay was the Blue Devil squad of sophomores Elizabeth Eberhardt and Shavonne Dash as well as seniors Amanda Asaro and Alasia Griebel. They turned in a time of 11:50.66.
Senior Amy Sanjurjo performed for the Blue Devils in the field. She posted a distance of 5.39m in the long jump, good for fourth place.
Freshman Chantelle Deer achieved a new personal best time in the 500m running the event in 1:17.34. This marked placed Deer in eighth.
Competition will resume Saturday, February 25th on day two of the New England Championships.


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- VPS Server w. root
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Self-Scheduling Instructions
You may self-schedule the following matters:
Withdraw as Attorney
Extend Plan Payments
Reinstate Case
Reconsider Dismissal of Case
Reduce Injuntion Period
Borrow/Incur Debt
Notices will be sent to all parties and creditors associated with the case in CM/ECF
Filing Steps
Docketing the Motion
1) From the Bankruptcy Menu Select Self-Scheduling, Events and Motions under the Miscellaneous Menu
2) Enter Case Number
3) Select one of the approved motions for self-scheduling (docket as normal)
Docketing of Self-Scheduling Notice
4) After completing the docketing of the motion return to the Self-Scheduling Events and Motions menu
5) Enter Case Number - Next
6) Select Notice of Self-Scheduled Hearing
7) Select the Party you are Filing on the behalf of - Next
8) Makenote that Judge Shulman's cases are scheduled in Courtroom 1 and Judge Mahoney's cases are heard in Courtroom 2 - Next
9) Enter the Hearing Date, Time, and select the appropriate location.
10) Check the box of the approved motion for self-scheduling.
11) Next
12) Review the docket text to make sure that the motion, date, time, and location are correct.
13) Next
Review the Notice of Electronic Filing - The court will send the hearing notice to all parties, attorneys, trustee, and creditors on the mailing matrix at the point in time that the notice of hearing is generated by the court. The hearing notice will not be viewable via CM/ECF until after the court has processed the notice.


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Results 1 to 2 of 2
International WWW limited search engine access
We have quite a few members who, at times, exasperate me and others with questions that could quite easily be answered by a quick search of the internet using the likes of Google (there are others, I know).
We in the more open and ''democratic" areas of the world sometimes forget that not everyone has access to the full range of services available on the world wide web.
I was checking what was available in Iran tonight and see that apart from the limitations from their own government the authorities in the USA have limited the use of Google there as well. If they are allowed to use a search engine then it might be two days before they are allowed to see the results.
I have only referred to one country here which is not my native United Kingdom but I'm sure that there are plenty of others.
So what I'm saying really is that I apologise to those that have got a short answer from me on my bad days and maybe ask the lucky ones on here to also cut a little slack now and then.
Last edited by Brian_UK; 06-03-2018 at 11:09 PM. Reason: Grammar
Brian - Newton Abbot, Devon, UK
Retired March 2015
Please support http://the100project.net/Home
Re: International WWW limited search engine access
Interesting comments Brian.
Was not aware of the situation in Iran.
Fortunately I did hold it together on my last post.
Apologies to the other member if he took offence at my comment "Let's try to put this one to bed"
Easy to forget the freedoms we have.


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Around Bordeaux
Public transport in Bordeaux
Bordeaux was awarded the 'Destination for All' label in June 2014, which indicates that it offers accessible tourism for all. The public transport network is generally fairly accessible. For more information, visit: http://plandynamique.infotbc.com/?id=accessible (French only)
Taxis in Bordeaux
Information to follow
Accessible accommodation in Bordeaux
A number of hotels in Bordeaux have accessible rooms for disabled guests. Further information on these hotels is available at: www.bordeaux-tourism.co.uk/Plan-your-trip/Practical-information/Accessibility/Accommodation-Tourisme-Handicap. Please note that many hotels do not routinely hold back accessible rooms for disabled guests and that demand for accommodation will be high during the tournament.
Eating and drinking in Bordeaux
The Bordeaux tourist office offers useful information on restaurants and bars in the city. For more information, visit www.bordeaux-tourism.co.uk/Plan-your-trip/Practical-information/Accessibility/Restaurants-Tourisme-Handicap
Sightseeing and leisure in Bordeaux
Bordeaux has several museums that are accessible to disabled people. For more information, visit www.bordeaux-tourism.co.uk/Plan-your-trip/Practical-information/Accessibility/Sites-and-monuments-Tourisme-Handicap
Getting to the stadium
The stadium is a 20-35 minute drive from the airport.
To get to stadium from the airport by public transport, you can take bus number 1 to Bordeaux-Saint-Jean railway station and then tram line C to the stadium. The journey takes around 1 hour 30 minutes.
From the city centre, the tram is the best option. Take tram line C to Parc des Expositions/Stade, or line B, which will connect to a direct shuttle to the stadium on matchdays (transit station to be decided: Porte de Brandenburg or Bassins à Flot).
You can also take bus number 14 to Vergne or number 37 to Carsat. Buses can accommodate one wheelchair user.
Fan Zone
Information to follow


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June 13, 2005
LOS ANGELES - The Riordan Programs, UCLA Anderson's pioneering, career-based outreach model for first-generation college students, wrapped up its 19th year with its 2005 Commencement Ceremony on May 14. Participants in The Riordan Programs include college bound 10th, 11th, and 12th grade high school students, known as the Riordan Scholars, and current college students and recent college graduates, known as the Riordan Fellows. The Riordan Scholars Program focuses on helping its students learn about business and develop leadership skills, while the Riordan Fellows Program educates, prepares and motivates its participants to competitively apply and succeed in top MBA programs and careers in management. The Riordan Programs staff includes Alex Lawrence, executive director; Lisa Woon, program coordinator; and Adrienne Martinez, program assistant.
This pre-collegiate and pre-MBA training program in business and management has enjoyed a successful year of competitions, guest lectures, community service projects and company visits during its eight monthly sessions. Following are some of this year's Riordan Programs events and activities:
- The Riordan Scholars Annual Stock Market Analyst Competition
- Project FUTURE (an academic/career day at Foshay Learning Center)
- Corporate Site Visit Series (Five company visits to Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Goldman Sachs & Co., the Los Angeles Opera Company, PacifiCare Health Systems and Toyota Motor Corporation)
- The Riordan Scholars $100K Portfolio Challenge
Annual Stock Market Competition
The Riordan Scholars Annual Stock Market Analyst Competition is one of many activities participants prepare for and look forward to during the program. The Scholars began planning for the competition from the start of the program, allowing them a span of five months for preparation. Each of the 16 teams of five to six students was assigned a publicly traded Fortune 500 company to research within four particular industries: automotive, entertainment, finance and healthcare.
Stock Market Leaders, who are oftentimes Riordan Programs alumni and UCLA Anderson alumni, educated the Scholars on stock analysis and business issues, offering guidance for the teams' Research Analyst Presentations, which included a company overview, financial performance and recommendation. During the initial round, teams delivered their presentations to various panels of judges within their particular industry. One team from each industry was selected to compete in the final round, and from those four final teams, the PacifiCare team was declared the winner.
"The Analyst Competition was an opportunity for each of the Scholars to participate and work together as a cohesive unit to present their assessment of the competitive landscape and the financial performance of their company," said Aaron Perlmutter, a Stock Market Competition judge and manager at Levine Leichtman Capital Partners. "As a stock market teacher as well as a judge, it was rewarding for me to see the tremendous progress each of the teams had made throughout the course of the year, up to the point of the presentations."
Riordan Programs Executive Director Alex Lawrence, a Riordan Fellows alum ('96) and UCLA Anderson MBA alum ('99), says that the format of the competition was changed this year to give the participants more hands-on activity with the research aspect of the competition. Students were able to visit some of the companies they were researching, giving them an informative experience to tie in with their Internet research. Some professionals even helped students with their presentations, which stepped up the level of the content.
"The winning team, PacifiCare, talked about a lot of issues that struck home with the adults, such as health care costs and benefits," Lawrence said. "And the judges were able to ask questions that went below the surface, really challenging the students to think, 'Well, if I were the CEO of a company, what would I do?'"
The $100K Portfolio Challenge was another important project that the Scholars worked on. Looking at the same companies used during the Stock Market Competition, the scholars were given $100,000 of fictitious money and had to determine how they would allocate that money. At the end of the program, the teams' portfolios were reviewed and the team with the highest portfolio value won. Team "Z" won this year's competition.
Community Service Projects
An important aspect of the Riordan Fellows Program is the six community service projects organized by small teams of Fellows. One of the projects was an event called Project FUTURE, an academic/career day held at Foshay Learning Center that offered information sessions and workshops regarding post-secondary educational and career opportunities for students. Nearly 20 colleges and universities, as well as employers such as MWH Global, Citibank and Los Angeles World Airports, were on hand to discuss academic information and career opportunities. Roderick Mayo, Partner with Price Waterhouse Coopers LLC, and Sylvia Juarez, UC Berkeley Admissions Officer were among the many speakers and panelists who shared their insight on the challenges and opportunities that families from low socioeconomic households face when seeking higher education and professional careers.
While Project FUTURE was a project that some of the Fellows planned externally, other projects dealt with in-house programming planning. One community service team dealt solely with the planning and organization of the Fellows final session on May 14, which involved putting together a volunteer schedule, planning activities and events that would take place in the afternoon, working with catering, planning the day's schedule, and creating a program to distribute to guests. The marketing team conducted focus groups with current and past Riordan Programs participants to garner information for a brochure that would help market the program to constituents ranging from prospective applicants to sponsors to other community partners.
The database management team created and maintained a new online alumni database and succeeded in updating contact information for more than 50 percent of The Riordan Programs' 1500 alumni. Another team served as consultants for the Programs' 20th anniversary celebration and created a thorough report complete for immediate implementation next year. The fundraising team, who spearheaded all fundraising efforts, helped fund the activities that each of the other teams worked on and raised money for the Riordan Fellows Legacy Scholarship Fund (so named because it was created by the Riordan Fellows in 2002). The Scholarship benefits Riordan Scholars who are graduating seniors; they can receive from $500 to $1000 to help subsidize the costs that they will incur during their first year in college.
"A lot of our Fellows are looking to go to graduate school of some nature, typically business school, and the community service projects prepare them by giving them exposure to working in teams, different leadership styles, the process of planning events, and working with people from different backgrounds and work perspectives," Lawrence said. "It not only benefits our program but the Fellows as well, from a personal development standpoint."
The Scholars Program is hoping to expand the number of participating students and high schools next year. In order to remedy space issues and cater to student interests, curriculum will be divided into two tracks – finance and health care. Program participants will receive their core curriculum based on one of the two industries, with some exposure to these topics already taking place this year.
Stephen Torres, a member of the Advisory Board and former mentor for The Riordan Programs, commented that the program "is one of the best vehicles for building a pipeline of qualified diverse applicants to business schools and other graduate programs.
"The Riordan Programs is designed as an equalizing tool for underrepresented students, bringing to them access to experiences, training and contacts enjoyed by mainstream well-to-do students competing for limited slots at graduate programs," said Torres, president and general manager of alternative energy at Magnetek. "The [participants] are exposed to a broad array of business experiences during a program year. For those that choose to pursue a career in business, the program should serve as a foundation for their academic work in the following years."
The Riordan Programs participants had the opportunity to learn about the health care industry during a special Health Care session in April that was designed to expose them to the current trends, challenges and opportunities affecting the health care and biotech industries. Invited panelists, who shared their experiences in the fields and offered their advice on a variety of topics, included UCLA Anderson MBA candidates and Amgen senior management, including the following individuals:
Dr. Peter Ho, an MBA candidate at UCLA Anderson and former intern at Biogen Idec Inc.
Dr. Geoffrey Van Thiel, an MD/MBA candidate at UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine/UCLA Anderson and former Healthnet employee
Bill Nash, senior manager in sales and marketing at Amgen
Mindy Han, associate manager in corporate finance at Amgen
Demet Yalcin, associate manager in research and development at Amgen
Attendees also had the opportunity to hear from lecturer CK Lin, a Ph.D. candidate at UCLA's Bioengineering department, who provided a lecture on his work in the field of nanotechnology.
Riordan Programs Program Assistant Adrienne Martinez, a participant of the Fellows Program in 2004, says that this past year was a tremendous success. "We came into this year wanting to build the program back up, add some good structure, make the curriculum (lectures, roundtable discussions, industry speakers) more like course curriculum, while continuing to have the mentoring program and the community service projects," she said.
"The Scholars, who can participate up to three years in the program, have noticed the difference and have expressed their huge gratitude for the improvement to the program," Martinez added. "It's a very complex and demanding program, but the benefits that the graduating participants are getting this year is very great.
About the Riordan Programs
Founded in 1987, The Riordan Programs is a pioneering career-based outreach program that motivates high school students, college students and recent college graduates from diverse backgrounds and under-served communities to consider and prepare for careers in management through education, mentorship and professional development. The Riordan Programs has since been recognized as the defining model for such programs.


text:
Smart, Hard Working, on Your Side
Fund: First Round Capital
Posted by serialentrep on 2007-10-12
Disclaimer: I run a Firstround funded company. They were the first Fund we turned to, and we have not had any regrets ever since. The investment process was efficient, and - given my experience with many other VCs - I have been extremely pleased with their involvement since closing the deal. They work very hard for us, have made extremely valuable introductions, are always reachable, and their counsel has always been helpful.PRIVATE: Members Only (307 Characters)


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Native Plants
Search for native plants by scientific name, common name or family. If you are not sure what you are looking for, try the Combination Search or our Recommended Species lists.
Dasylirion texanum
Dasylirion texanum Scheele
Texas Sotol, Sotol
Liliaceae (Lily Family)
USDA Symbol: DATE3
USDA Native Status: L48 (N)
This short-trunked desert perennial is often mistaken for yucca. A 9-15 ft. flower stalk, bearing a 2-3 ft. spike of yellowish flowers, is subtended by a basal cluster of dark, bluish-green leaves with evenly-spaced spines and a wide, cupped base. The leaf cluster is 1 1/2-2 1/2 ft. tall.
Trunks split open during dry spells, allowing wildlife access to the spongy interior and leaf bases.
From the Image Gallery
Plant CharacteristicsDuration: Perennial
Habit: Grass/Grass-like
Leaf Retention: Evergreen
Leaf Complexity: Simple
Size Notes: 1.5-2.5 feet.
Size Class: 3-6 ft.
Bloom InformationBloom Color: Yellow
Bloom Time: Jun , Jul
DistributionUSA: TX
Native Habitat: Flat desert areas, Prairie, Plains, Meadows, Pastures, Savannas, Chaparral & brush country
Growing ConditionsWater Use: Low
Light Requirement: Sun
Soil Moisture: Dry
Cold Tolerant: yes
Heat Tolerant: yes
Soil Description: Sandy, Caliche type, Igneous, Limestone-based;adaptable
Conditions Comments: This short-trunked desert perennial is often mistaken for yucca. A 9-15 ft. flower stalk, bearing a 2-3 ft. spike of yellowish flowers, is subtended by a basal cluster of dark, bluish-green sharp edged leaves with evenly-spaced spines and a wide, cupped base. Trunks split open during dry spells, allowing wildlife access to the spongy interior and leaf bases.
BenefitUse Ornamental: Easily grown, Rock gardens, Rocky hillside, Security hedge
Conspicuous Flowers: yes
Interesting Foliage: yes
Deer Resistant: High
PropagationCommercially Avail: yes
From the National Suppliers DirectoryAccording to the inventory provided by Associate Suppliers, this plant is available at the following locations:
Wrights Nursery - Briggs, TX
Far South Wholesale Nursery - Austin, TX
From the National Organizations DirectoryAccording to the species list provided by Affiliate Organizations, this plant is on display at the following locations:
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - Austin, TX
Sibley Nature Center - Midland, TX
NPSOT - Fredericksburg Chapter - Fredericksburg, TX
NPSOT - Austin Chapter - Austin, TX
Jacob's Well Natural Area - Wimberley, TX
NPSOT - Williamson County Chapter - Georgetown, TX
Wildflower Center Seed BankLBJWC-CW-3 Collected 2005-08-03 in Mason County by Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
BibliographyBibref 355 - Landscaping with Native Plants of Texas and the Southwest (1991) Miller, G. O.
Bibref 354 - Native & Naturalized Woody Plants of Austin & the Hill Country (1981) Lynch, D.
Bibref 318 - Native Texas Plants: Landscaping Region by Region (2002) Wasowski, S. & A. Wasowski
Search More Titles in Bibliography
Additional resourcesUSDA: Find Dasylirion texanum in USDA Plants
FNA: Find Dasylirion texanum in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Dasylirion texanum
MetadataRecord Modified: 2017-10-25
Research By: TWC Staff, GDB


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It might be winter if your mail box looks like this after the county snow blow goes by......(yes this is our mailbox after the last round of snow we received)
Friday, January 30, 2009
It Might Be Winter IF.....
It might be winter if your mail box looks like this after the county snow blow goes by......(yes this is our mailbox after the last round of snow we received)
Posted by The Gaertegang Homestead at 7:44 AM 0 comments
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Genesis Bible Study CH. 47-
Chapter 47: My study book for Genesis says that after the reunion, Joseph escorted his father's caravan to Pharaoh and presented his brothers and father to Egypt's ruler. In keeping with Pharaoh's suggestion, Joseph then provided land and food for the Hebrew immigrants. Joseph himself, continued in his government position, saving lives while at the same time enriching Pharaoh.
Chapter 48: Jacob (Joseph's father) blesses Manasseh and Ephraim. It was custom that the oldest son got double the inheritance as the younger son. In this case Jacob blesses both of Joseph's sons but gives the superior blessing to Ephraim, the younger son of Joseph.
Chapter 49: At the age of 147 years old Jacob dies. VERSE 33: When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people.
Chapter 50: Joseph has to reassure his brothers that they should not fear him.
VERSES 19-20: Joseph said (to his brothers), "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for the good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
VERSES 26: Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten. And after they embalmed him, he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.
That ends my study of Genesis. I hope you will continue to spend time daily in the Word of God. I am already reading through Exodus and plan to just put in special verses throughout my study that are very convicting, encouraging, or very profound and fitting to me in this seaon of my life. It may not be something I post each day as I have been......that actually is very labor intensive for me to read it all then write on it also......
Posted by The Gaertegang Homestead at 7:00 AM 1 comments
Labels: Genesis Bible Study
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Genesis Bible Study CH. 42-46
CHAPTER 42: Joseph's earlier dream of his brothers bowing down to him comes true. Joseph brother's (except Benjamin) come to Egypt to buy some grain, because they had no food because of the famine in the land. Joseph is harsh with them calling them "spies". He tells them to return home and bring back their youngest brother and then he will know that they are telling the truth about their family.
CHAPTER 43-46: Now the brothers all return and Joseph ends up telling his brothers who he is. He then invites them to come live with their father in a region near him. Jacob and 70 others return to Egypt. VERSE 29: Joseph had his chariot made ready and went to Goshen to meet his father Israel. As soon as Joseph appeared before him, he threw his arms around his father and wept for a long time.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Genesis Bible Study CH. 39-41
Chapter 39 : Talks about Potiphar's (who was Joseph's master) wife pursuing Joseph. She tried day after day to get him to go to bed with her, and each day he refused. One day she grapped a hold of him by the cloak and tried to persuade Joseph again and he took off running away from her leaving his cloak behind in her hand. Then Potiphar's wife accused Joseph of "trying to make sport of her" and then Joseph's master burned with anger and sent Joseph to prison.
Chapter 40: While in prison Joseph was clearly seen as a righteous man because he was again put in charge. While there he came into contact with two men who also had worked for the Pharaoh. They each had a dream one night and wanted someone to interpret them. VERSE 8 (second part) Joseph said to them "Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.
Each of them did and Joesph told them what they meant, but he told the cupbearer when he had been restored in the palace to remember him. He did not he forgot, and Joseph remained in prison.
Chapter 41: Now in this chapter 2 years had passed when the Pharaoh had a dream and no could interpret it...he has tired many times to find someone. Now the cupbearer remembers Joseph and tells the Pharaoh what had happened to him in prison and how what Joseph said had happened exactly how he had said it would. Joseph explains the meaning of Pharaoh's dream ......7 good years of plenty followed by 7 years of extreme famine. So the Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of all of Egypt, the only person with more power than Joseph, was the Pharaoh himself. So Joseph was to prepare the people for the 7 bad years by storing up food during the 7 good years, and Joseph did just that.
Guess What Also Happened This Weekend???
Someone had a Birthday in our family....So last Tuesday we got together to celebrate!! Here is a shot of my hubby's family hanging out around the table!!! There are actually a few kids missing from the photo as well as my father-in-law.
HINT: Well this person's birthday was actually on Sat. this past weekend, but because I was at the retreat we celebrated early!! GUESS WHO'S 30????
Posted by The Gaertegang Homestead at 7:00 AM 0 comments
Labels: Special moments
Monday, January 26, 2009
Meijer and Menards Three Weeks in a ROW!!
Well for not usually making it a habit to go to Meijer I have been their 3 weeks in a row now!!! It just has worked out in the schedule and I found a short cut way so it only takes me about 20-25 minutes now!!! Well I spent more than I ever had at Meijer this week. With good reason though, I bought a lot of chicken!!! I got 2 of the family size fresh cut boneless skinless chicken breast....they were only 1.69 a pound!!!!! I came home and put it in gallon ziploc freezer bags and it will make 4 meals for us! Also I stumbled across some manger special chicken breast with the rib bone in it....it was 40% off so I paid $2.xx for each of them....also making another 4 meals for us!!! I grabbed some Tillapia Fish as well...not really a good deal ($3.99) but we have had it before and we LOVED it and I thought it sounded like a good changed up in the menu. I also got paper plates, fish crackers, salsa, apples, grapes, chesse, and ziploc bags. All totaling $48. Not a "cheap" week but I spent most of my money on meat (9 meals worth).....so not too bad either.
Posted by The Gaertegang Homestead at 8:15 PM 0 comments
Labels: Bargain Finds
Guess What I Did This Weekend????
Well I left the house Friday morning and headed to a place not too far from home....but at this place there was no kids, no men, no cooking, no cleaning, no dishes, no laundry......NO I DIDN'T GO TO HEAVEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But it sounds like a slice of Heaven, right???
I was invited (and asked to bring a friend) to hostess a women's retreat at Camp Lutherhaven. It is located in the out in the middle of no where and is just a beautiful place for a retreat. 130 women came together with a common top priority for the weekend...TO GLORIFY GOD and highlight was he has done, is doing, and what we hope is will do in each one of our lives. What an honor is was to have the chance to go for FREE because we were willing to help out with some of the retreat details. I feel refreshed, renewed,
Here is my sweet friend Joy that went with me to the retreat...What a fantastic time of fellowship for us, anyway from all the distractions of life. Here she is being "crafty" and stamping some pretty cards.....we got to make several and bring them home with us :)
Posted by The Gaertegang Homestead at 7:00 AM 1 comments
Labels: Special moments
Friday, January 23, 2009
Good morning everyone!!!! I hope your week has been a great one and you have some fun things planned for the weekend!!! Well I feel like I need to confess a little something to all my readers.....As some of you may have noticed I didn't post anything yesterday..not even my Bible Study which I like to post everyday if nothing else.
My first confession is I made a commitment to God that I would be a better steward of my time and spend more time in His word. So everyday for the last several weeks that had been my #1 priority.
My second confession is that I gave my husband my word that I wouldn't let my new hobby, blogging, get in the way of my daily mommy and household responsibilities. Although that sounds easy enough, it hard to stay true to that each day. I find myself staying up to late at night to get my posts ready for the next day or wanting to turn on my computer before I have taken my quiet time. I have found myself tempted to not hold true to my commitments I made to my God, my hubby, or myself.
I so far have been fully committed to my quiet time which is something that is very important to me and I am glad to be sticking with it daily. But the bedtime issue had gotten alittle crazy..I find myself at 11 or 1130p finally scooting off to bed, and then throw on top of that a 1 1/2 year old that is getting up every night lately about 3-4 times...which subtracts another 2 hours from my sleep time each night. The end result...a tired grumpy wife and mommy!!!! As a result of not sleeping enough, I find it hard to keep my energy level up inorder to get all things done that I need to AND keep a good ATTITUDE. Keeping a good attitude is also something inportant to me, but something that I have failing at lately.
So I just want to let you know that each day I strive to post something ( Monday- Friday anyways), but if I don't then I want you to know that I just couldn't fit it in after all the things I NEED to accomplish first. I love this new hobby of mine, and I want to continue to do it, but I want to be "REAL" with everyone and I want you to help keep me accountable for keeping my priorities in line. In the happenings of life it is so easy to follow those little bunny trails and then at the end of the day wonder why we didn't get anything done...know what I mean???
Again today I will not be posting my Genesis study because of other commitments in my life. Please know that even though I won't be posting I have already taken my time with the LORD, and I hope you have to....If not, then shut off your computer and do it now. Don't put off something so important so much that at the end of the day your never took anytime to be quiet before the throne of the SAVIOR .
Posted by The Gaertegang Homestead at 7:23 AM 1 comments
Labels: Blogging
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Genesis Bible Study Ch. 37 & 38
CHAPTER 37: Joseph had a dream and then reveals it to his brothers.
VERSE 7 We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.
Joseph's brother hated him even more after he told them about his dream and then he had another dream with a similar implications as the first. Joseph's brothers plotted to kill him but one brother objected so they threw him into a pit. Then they decided to sell him as a slave to the Ishmaelites.
CHAPTER 38: Judah, Joseph's brother wanted to try to accumulate wealth by marrying a Canaanite woman. Judah's firstborn was married and then he died, so it was customary for the brother to then sleep with his brother's wife to continue the family line. So Onan was the brother who was told to sleep with his brother's wife. He did this and then he died. So Judah told his daughter-in-law to go back to her father's house until his last son would be old enough for her. ( Judah was being deceitful because he never intended to give his youngest son to Tamar.
Tamar was told that Judah was coming to shear his sheep she changed out of her morning clothes and covered her face with a veil then she waited. When Judah saw her he thought she was a prostitute....and Judah asked for her to come sleep with him. He said he would give her a goat for sleeping with him. She also asked for something to have until the sheep was provided. He gave her his seal and its cord. Later when Judah servants tried to deliver the sheep to "a prostitute" the towns people said there was no such woman here. When people discovered Tamar was pregnant with no husband they said she was a prostitute, Judah said bring her and she will be burned to death. VERSE 25 As she was being brought out, she sent a message to her Father-in-law. "I am pregnant by the man who owns these," she said. And she added, "See if you recognize whose seal and cord and staff these are."
She was not killed and gave birth to two sons.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Genesis Bible Study Ch. 35 & 36
CHAPTER 35: Rachael dies after she gives birth to yet another son, Benjamin is the name Isaac gave him...and then Isaac dies at the age of 170 years.
CHAPTER 36: This chapter list the decendants of Esau.....Need any baby names????? Look in this chapter for some original names...if you prefer originals over traditional name!!!!
Meijer and Menards Bargains!!
This is a pic of the things that Menards had this week for FREE AFTER REBATE!!! I noticed after I put almost everything away that I forgot to include the 2 boot trays I got also. I got 2 clamp, 2 Rain X, 3 shelf liners, a hammer, a square all FREE. With the rebate the catch is you have to buy $10 in non-rebate items which worked out fine because they have 24pk. of bottles water for $2.99 so I got four to meet me $10 requirement....and we needed some bottles water anyway!!! I think my Hubby is loving this bargain shopping even more since I am stocking up his garage with all sorts of great things!!! I should get back about $23 in rebates!!
Posted by The Gaertegang Homestead at 7:00 AM 1 comments
Labels: Bargain Finds
Monday, January 19, 2009
Genesis Bible Study Ch. 33 & 34
CHAPTER 33: Jacob and Esau reunite...As Jacob approached Esau he could see he (Esau) had with him 400 men..So Jacob split up the children of Leah and Rachael. As Jacob got closer to Esau he bowed down SEVEN times ( my footnote said this was an act of total submission). Esau ran to meet Jacob they hugged and wept!! Esau said he didn't need the gifts Jacob had sent ahead of his arrival because he already had what he needed....but Jacob insisted for Esau to accept them so he did.
CHAPTER 34: Dinah the daughter of Leah and Jacob decided to go and visit some of the women in this new land. VERSE 2 When Shechem, son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that area saw her, he took her and violated her.
VERSE 3 His (Shechem) heart was drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob, and he loved the girl and spoke tenderly to her.
When Jacob and his sons heard of about what had happened they were filled with grief, and fury it says in verse 7. This man had brought disgrace to Jacob's daughter.
VERSE 11-12 Shechem said to Dinah's father and brothers, "Let me find favor in your eyes, and I will give you whatever you ask. Make the price for the bride and the gift I am to bring as great as you like, and I'll pay whatever you ask me. Only give me the girl as my wife."
VERSE15 We will give you our consent to you on one condition only: that you become like us by circumcising all your males. ( This answer was out of the deceit of Jacob's sons...they didn't really intend to follow through with giving away Dinah.)
VERSE 25 Three days later, while all of them were still in pain, two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, took their swords and attacked the inspecting city, killing every male.
Posted by The Gaertegang Homestead at 8:58 AM 0 comments
Labels: Genesis Bible Study
Walgreens and CVS runs this week!!!
2 CVS allergy $3.79 each
Total was over $50
I used a $10 off CVS coupon, A Buy One Get one coupon for the throat coolers ( they were already free this month so I made money on that), .50 coupon for the Kleenex, $2.00 coupons for each of the St.Ives. Then I also used up some ECB's from earlier this week $30 worth.........Then I paid $1.53 for all 15 items!!!!!! Then if that isn't awesome enough....I got lots of ECB's $2 for the Kleenex, $9.98 for the Coolers, $10 for the Pepsi/ Chip deal ( Plus I am mailing in a "Rebate thing for that which should score me $15 in coupons),$7.58 for the allergy med: TOTALING $19.56 in ECB's
My 2nd Transaction was just as sweet!!! Even Lance gave me a big thumbs up!!
3 milk, Kleenex, Johnson's body wash, 2 Throat Coolers, 2 boxes of Soy Joy, 2 Nasogels.
Total over $50...
I used another $10 off $50 purchase coupon, $1 off soy joy, $1 off Johnson's, B1G1 Cooler - $4.99, $2 off each of the Nasogels (these were also free this month so I made money on both of them), then I rolled ECB's from the first transaction onto this one (using all of them). My total was $4.46 oop. THEN I GOT $39.98 back in ECB!!!!
I LOVE CVS!!! All together 26 items for about .23 each... then almost $40 to spend in the weeks to come!!!
Posted by The Gaertegang Homestead at 7:00 AM 0 comments
Labels: Bargain Finds
Friday, January 16, 2009
This is a pic of my Meijer run I made on Monday!!! Since the nearest Meijer to me is about 25-30 minutes away so I don't make it there alot. When I saw the ad matchups this week (which means the sale price on items plus I had coupons for them), I couldn't resist heading to town!! Here is the run down of what I got...
3 bags of Chex mix
3 cans Ravioli
2 bags of Combos
12 Yoplait yogurts
3 Skippy Peanut butters
3 Hamburger Helpers
1 box Fiber One Toast Pastry
10 boxes of Green Giant Veggies
4 Betty Crocker potatoes
6 Pillsbury Dinner Rolls
4 boxes Fiber One cereal
4 boxes of Pizza rolls
When I finished I think I was around 54-56 items and I spent $30 total!!!!! I did these purchases in two transactions in order to get the most bang for my buck!!!
Posted by The Gaertegang Homestead at 7:00 AM 1 comments
Labels: Bargain Finds
Genesis Bible Study Ch. 31 & 32
CHAPTER 31: Verse 17 Then Jacob put his children and his wives on camels, and he drove all his livestock ahead of him, along with all the goods he had accumulated in Paddan Aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.
When Laban discovers that Jacob has left in secret he chases after him. When he catches up to Jacob he asked why he just up and left. VERSE 31"I was afraid, because I thought you would take your daughters away from me by force."
After a little confrontation, Laban sent Jacob and his family off to return to home.
CHAPTER 32: Jacob was a bit nervous about returning home, he knew Esau would be there waiting. As they got closer to home Jacob sent some herdmans ahead of him and told them that when they met up with Esau to say this VERSE 20 "Your servant Jacob is coming behind us."
Next we read about Jacob wrestling with GOD. VERSE 26 Then the man said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak." But Jacob replied, " I will not let you go unless you bless me."
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Genesis Bible Study Ch. 29 & 30
CHAPTER 29: Jacob makes it to his uncle Laban's and meets up with him and Racheal as they graze the sheep. He notices Racheal's beauty right away and was taken with her. After talking to Laban ,Jacob agrees to work for 7 years for him in exchange for "his daughters hand in marriage", thinking it would be Rachael. When the 7 years was complete Laban gave Jacob his oldest daughter Leah, saying he could not give away his youngest daughter before the oldest. Upon discovering the deceit he went to Laban and asked for Racheal to be his wife also and Laban agreed to give him Rachael as well after the "honeymoon" week was over. So he took Rachael as his wife and then worked for 7 more years for Laban. As you can imagine, two sisters being married to the same man causes more than its fair share of problems....read the chapter is you want all the juicy details...there are many :)
CHAPTER 30: Jacob completed his second round of servanthood to Laban and asked to be sent on his way. Laban convinced Jacob to stay and told Jacob he could "name his own wages". Jacob said he would take every imperfect animal ( with spots or blemishes) of Laban's. Laban agreed to Jacob's request. Jacob once again was not honest with his intentions....though the Lord chose to bless him and increase in flocks and his wealth.
MId Week Funny!
Okay, so I realize that my mid week funny is not so mid week, but here it is anyway!! These pics are from this fall. Lance and Caleb decided they were going to dig for "gold, or Dinosaur bones, or some sort of treasure" and this was the result.
Posted by The Gaertegang Homestead at 7:00 AM 0 comments
Labels: Mid Week Funny
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Genesis Bible Study ch. 27 & 28
CHAPTER 27: Jacob already conned Esau into goving him his birthright and in this chapter he steals Esau's blessing as well. Prompted by Rebekah, his mother, to decieve his father he went to get two young goats. Rebekah prepared them just like Isaac would want and Jacob took it to him. He was dressed in Esau's clothes so he smelled like him and put the wool of the neck of a sheep on his hands to be hairy like Esau. Isaac gave Jacob the blessing, thinking he was Esau.
When Esau returned with his game that he had prepared and went to his father to get the blessing Isaac said he had already given his blessing. Esau was furious!!! Esau was even more heartbroken when he discovered his father could not bless him with anything.
CHAPTER 28: Isaac calls Jacob and commanded him "Do not marry a Canaanite woman. Go at once to Paddan Aram, to the house of your mother's father Bethuel. Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother bother."
On Jacob's journey he had a dream and when he awakes and ponders the dream this is his reaction. VERSE 20: Jacob made a vow, saying, If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father's house, then the LORD will be my GOD and this stone ( he had under his pillow the night before) that I have set up as a pillar will be God's house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Genesis Bible Study 25 & 26
CHAPTER 25: Abraham dies at the age of 175 years old, and leaves everything he owns to Isaac. But before he dies he gave gifts to all the sons of his concubines and sent them away. In verse 21 it says Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was barren. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.** Then she gave birth to twins, Esau and Jacob. VERSE 27 The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was a quiet man, staying among the tents. VERSE 28 Isaac, who has a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
At the end of the chapter Esau gives away his birthright (which would be his inheritance) to Jacob in exchange for food because he has just returned from the open country and he is starving.
CHAPTER 26: Isaac pulled the "she's not my wife" scheme, just like his father had done (twice). Again it did not work, but Isaac did earn more wealth and livestock. The Philistines envied him, and stopped up all his wells so they had no water. Isaac decided to move away to the Valley of Gerer.
Coupon Craziness Part 2
Here are a few more things you might want to know about what I do....
*At each CVS they have these little machines that spit out coupons for you when you scan your CVS card. You can sometime scan it up to three times in a row on a good day!!! Use these coupons to save even more money!!!
** At Kroger and Meijer you can use only two coupons at a time for the same item..Example: If I want to buy 4 or 6 bags of pizza rolls at Meijer (because you can get them free this week:) I will have to do 2 bags at a time....so I will do 2 or 3 transactions....Make sense??
***If you shop Kroger and you want to save even more go to http://shortcuts.com/ and then you can upload more coupons onto your Kroger card..It's easy and quick to do. You can now load 50 coupons on at a time!!! These ecoupons are only worth face value, they do not triple. BUT you can use MANUFACTURER coupons, which do triple, plus the KROGER ecoupons and save even more...EXCITING I KNOW!!!
****I always find out what the deals of week are from 2 sites. Feel free to check them out each week for the latest deals at Walgreens, CVS, Kroger and Meijer, an NOW MENARDS too.
http://dailyessentialsanddeals.blogspot.com http://moneysavingmom.typepad.com/
***** Last thing for today....make sure you have a good filling system for your coupons!! It is very important to be organized in my opinion. It saves so much time to be able to flip through your coupons and grap the ones you need for the week. For the last three weeks I have been trying to do a better job of cutting out my coupons the day I get them and file them. Makes life easier later :)
Posted by The Gaertegang Homestead at 7:00 AM 1 comments
Labels: Coupon Craziness
Monday, January 12, 2009
Genesis Bible Study 23 & 24
CHAPTER 23: Sarah lived to the age of 127, then died at Hebron, in the land of Canaan. So Abraham wanted to bury Sarah, and the Hittites told him he could bury her anywhere he wished. Ephron , the man who owned the cave, refused payment for the land and said for Abraham to bury his dead. After debating over buying the land, Abraham paid 400 shekels of silver to Ephron.
CHAPTER 24: Abraham was concerned over Isaac marrying a Canaanite woman. Canaanite's had no clear knowledge of the true and living God. Abraham did not want his people ruined by idolatry. So he made his servant take an oath to find a wife for Isaac in Abraham's country, Nahor. Abraham was very clear on the fact that he did not want Isaac to leave the Promise Land. The Lord had promised him "To your offspring I will give this land."
When the servant arrived he asked God to bless with success. He asked for a sign of a maiden who would freely give water to him and his camels. Rebekah did exactly that and the servant asked to stay at her parents home for the night. He explained the whole situation to her family and they said, "This is from the Lord; we can say nothing to you one way or the other. Here is Rebekah; take her and go, and let her become the wife of your master's son, as the Lord has directed. 23:50
When the servant and Rebekah returned home she and Isaac married.
Have a blessed day!!!
Mommy Moment Monday
Posted by The Gaertegang Homestead at 7:00 AM 2 comments
Labels: mommy moment monday
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Snowy Saturday!!
Guess what we did this weekend??? Here are some fun pic to show you all the fun we had!!! Lance started off his fun on his 4 wheeler.
Posted by The Gaertegang Homestead at 9:15 PM 1 comments
Labels: family
Friday, January 9, 2009
Genesis Bible Study CH 21 & 22
Chapter 21: Well the long awaited promise arrives!!! At the age of 90, which sounds old to us but in Bible times was not old considering people lived 300 years or more, Sarah have birth to a son. I am sure Isaac brought such joy to their hearts...they had waited SOOOO long for him. Sarah catches Ishmael, Isaac's 1/2 brother, mocking Isaac and demands that Ishmael and his mother be banished....Abraham allowed it.
After being sent away they almost died of thirst, then the Lord provided them water. He, the Lord, promised to make Ishmael into a great nation. (Just as he had promised to make Isaac into a great nation.)
Chapter 22: Verse 2 is striking to me as a parent.......Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about." Genesis 22:2
I just can't even imagine being asked to do such a thing after waiting a life time to have a child. I understand God was testing Abraham's faith, but I don't think I would have been able to obey like Abraham. I also am struck by Abraham's immediate obedience as a response to what God was calling him to do. I think that is so key in our walk with Lord. We demand immediate obedience from our children, so why wouldn't our Heavenly Father expect it from His children.
This whole situation ends well in verse 11-12: But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, Abraham! Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied. "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son." What great reminder to us how God rewards us when we obey him which such a willing heart.
Posted by The Gaertegang Homestead at 1:42 PM 0 comments
Labels: Genesis Bible Study
Mexico Trip #2
Hello Again Mexico!!! Well after we were in Mexico the first time Justin discovered he had won a trip to Mexico and that we would go again in Dec. 2-7.....So here are some pics of our 2nd time around.......GREAT WEATHER every day mid to upper 80's and sunny!
We enjoyed walking through this marina on the way to see the dolphins and admiring all the boats...there were some fishing boats and then some nicer ones that were strictly for entertaining.
This is a incredible look at God's creation. We got up early on our last day to read our Bibles on the beach....and then catch every little last bit of warm sun before heading back to the freezing cold midwest.
Another beautiful view of the sun starting to come up! Imagine waking up to that view each morning!
A couple of the nights during our stay there were booths set up in the resort for you to buy things. This man was painting with different spray paints. We are not sure what the flame does to the painting but we enjoyed watching him do his work.
Posted by The Gaertegang Homestead at 7:00 AM 3 comments
Labels: Vacation
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Genesis Bible Study Ch. 19 & 20
CHAPTER 19: The beginning of the chapter is talking of Lot and his visit from the angels. Lot sat at the city gate (indicating he must have held some authority in the city). He offered them everything Abraham had...he convinced them to stay at his house that night because he feared what the men of Sodom would do. When a crowd gathered outside Lot's door that night demanding the men be sent out for sexual abuse, Lot refused (as a host it was his job to protect the men). I guess he took that pretty seriously because he offered the crowd his two virgin daughters instead...CAN YOU IMAGINE????? WHAT WAS HE THINKING????? What were his two daughters thinking when they heard him say this????
The angel informed Lot of the upcoming disaster...Lot tried to convince his future sons-in-laws, but they didn't believe him....no one did. So he left with only his wife and two daughters. The angels had also given the family orders, they were to flee without stopping and not look back. When Lot reached the city of Zoar (the fifth city of the plain, and the only city spared from the disaster) God destroyed the cities of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim. Burning sulfur fell on the cities.
The part we all usually remember most of this story is Lot's wife being turned to a pillar of salt. Her disobedience and curiosity should be a warning to us that we need to separate ourselves from the world with obedience to God.
The end of the chapter is a bit disturbing for me to think about...Lot laying with his daughters in order to preserve their family line...they both had sons.
CHAPTER 20: Again Abraham claims Sarah is his sister...again he is found out...again he is asked why he lied....again they leave the city with more wealth.......
How is that possible??? $200 for six people for one month???
I have had several people ask me how in the world do I get all my groceries for a family of 6 on a $200 a month grocery budget......so I will do my best to explain how it has worked for me...
BACKGROUND INFO: A cousin, Megan, sparked me onto this whole "COUPON CRAZINESS" which is what my husband usually refers to it as. (Don't get me wrong he's not complaining about me slashing the grocery budget. He just thinks all the rules and how the game works is MIND BOGGLING). So she, Megan, explained the method a bit to me and said go to http://moneysavingmom.typepad.com/ and she will explain it all more...so I did and then I printed off the booklet ($9.95, I think I had to pay to print it). I read through it and then read through it again, and then I asked Megan probably a million questions!!!
1. You will not cut you grocery bill in half the first, second, third , or even fourth month......it took me six. You may never cut it in half depending on your situation, but I do know you can knock off a good chunk of money your spending!!
2. I get my coupons fby getting one FW Sunday paper and two CHICAGO papers each week....Chicago papers are not available anywhere around Busco or Col. City that I know of, and you can't subscribe to the paper (unless you want to pay $4.55 per paper and even then I am not sure you would actually get one). Megan lives in LaGrange, she can get papers there. So she picks them up each Sunday and then gives then to Justin's parents at church and of course they then give them to me. Chicago papers run about 2.50 per paper (so I spend about $25 a month). My FW paper is $1.25 a week I think. They more than pay for themselves every month!! The thing about Chicago papers....they have way more coupons in them than the FW paper.
3. It takes awhile to stock pile all your coupons. The point being to have duplicate coupons to use those on the items when they go on sale. SALE PRICE - COUPON = FREE or NEARLY FREE STUFF. You want to be able to buy more than just one..so you can stockpile.
4. Here are the stores I shop at CVS, WALGREENS, MEIJER (not to often because I have to justify the gas and time and all), KROGER, and ALDI.
5. Each week CVS and Walgreens will run deals on items that you can get free. At CVS they might say buy Dawn for .99 and then get .99 ECB. ECB's are your friend!!! Basically it is cash to spend. At first you will spend money out of your pocket to buy these things, in order to build up your ECB's . The general idea is to spend those ECB on items that will replenish the ones you spent. At Walgreens the same concept is true, they call their rewards Register Rewards.
6. Krogers in our region TRIPLE coupons up to and including .50 coupons (so your .50 coupon is really a $1.50 coupon). Meijer doubles up to and including .50 coupons. So every week you would look for the sale items (10/$10 things especially) and then use your coupons to get them free. When those items go on sale you stock pile and slowly build up your pantry. (That is the reason you want more than one coupon, that is also why I get 3 papers.)
7. Anything that I don't get for free, I usually can get at ALDI.
8. If you are brand sensitive on things you might not find couponing as beneficial as our family does. I am only picky on a few things..detergent, peanut butter and that's really it.
9.Your pantry will not be stockpiled full immediately. But it also won't take to long, maybe a couple months.
10. It does require some time commitment..cutting out coupons and filing them. ( I use a binder with a zipper, and bought plastic baseball card inserts (9 count) and then label for each category.) I also look up what the upcoming deals are on Hot Coupon World each week then print it off and that saves me time..then I can know which coupons to pull...then check the ad on Sunday (for CVS, Walgreens, Meijer), or Thursday for Kroger and see what other thing I want to get that week.
If you would like to check out http://hotcouponworld.com/ click on the link and then scroll down to DRUG STORES (to check CVS and walgreens), then scroll to CVS hot deals, or Walgreens hot deals (which ever you are checking). Then you scroll down again until you find the weekly sales you want to view...They usually show about 2 weeks in advance what the upcoming sales will be. To check out Kroger or Meijer look on this same site EXCEPT go to GROCERY STORES instead of drug stores....just be aware that some of the sales might be regional so check carefully.
11. I spent lots of time at the beginning getting used to everything and looking online alot. Now I don't take much time at all..
12. I do not use many printable online coupons...I do use some if I see on some blog, or moneysavingmom that you can print a coupon on a sale item that I don't have a Manufacturer coupon for.
Well I think that is enough info for today...I don't want to overload you in one day!!! I know it can be alot to absorb in one day!! If you have questions just leave a comment, email, or call me. I will post more on "coupon craziness" next week!
Posted by The Gaertegang Homestead at 7:00 AM 0 comments
Labels: Coupon Craziness
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Genesis Bible Study Ch. 17 & 18
Chapter 17: Thirteen years had now passed since the birth of Ishmael, and Abram was 99 years old, and still no baby.....The Lord appeared again to Abram confirming His , telling Abram he should walk before Him and "be blameless". Then God required a covenant sign (covenant literally mean "to cut"). In 17:11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between you and me.
In this chapter Abram's name in now changed to Abraham "father of many". Sarai's name was changed to Sarah "a princess", because of her role in mothering all those to come.
My study book had some great things to say............Sometimes we take a wrong turn in life, as Abraham did when he decided to produce an heir on his own. But once we learn about our mistake, we cannot be too quick to reverse direction and begin obeying God with a better understanding. He is always pleased to accept those who repent and turn toward Him.
Chapter 18:This chapter tells us about when three "figures" appeared to Abraham "in the heat of the day". My study book says traditionally people rested during this time and waited for the sun to go down. These "men" left us some clues that they were not ordinary men.
#1 They called Sarah by her name yet Abraham had no mentioned her in conversation at that point.
#2 When the Lord (which they (scholars) think was one of these "men") told of the upcoming birth to a son. Sarah was about 99 years old at this time.
#3 The Lord revealed that He knew what was going on in Sarah's mind.
After the three visited with Abraham they had one more thing to take care of...judgement on some wicked cities.
The Lord said, " The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see of what they have done is as bad as the outcry that had reached me. If not, I will know. Genesis 18: 20-21
God shared with Abraham what his plan was. Then God allowed Abraham's relatives to escape. Abraham begs for the innocent to be spared.....Interceding for them.
Ezekiel 33:11 says "As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their wicked ways and live."
Any thoughts from you all???
Posted by The Gaertegang Homestead at 6:57 AM 0 comments
Labels: Genesis Bible Study
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
I LOVE a good bargain!
HAPPY WEDNESDAY!!! Well many of you know that since June 08' I have been caught up in this coupon CRAZINESS!!! Well since I always love hearing about BARGAINS I thought I would join the all other NUTS-O people posting their grocery pics :)
Posted by The Gaertegang Homestead at 4:08 PM 1 comments
Labels: Bargain Finds
Genesis Bible Study Ch. 15 & 16
Chapter 15: Lots of great DRAMA going on in this chapter!!! First Abram has a vision where the Lord speaks to him and says "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward."
Can you even begin to imagine this happening to you???!!! The Lord promising you in person that he will protect and that HE is your reward!!!! WOW!! I guess the whole vastness of that promise is not totally understood by Abram.
The Lord once again affirms his promise to Abram that his offspring will number many. I think Abram's patience must have been running out.....can you blame the man??? The first promise of children was made when you was 75 years old. Now we see in chapter 16 that he is 85 when Hagar becomes pregnant and 86 when she delivers Ishmael.
I think of what an interesting conversation that must have been when Sarai was insisting that he sleep with another woman so that he would have children of his own. I also think it's funny how this was his wife's, Sarai's idea yet she then turned on Hagar and treated he badly once she was pregnant.
Sounds like some of the drama you can find on pretty much any TV station during the day....bad comparison I know, but things sure weren't boring :)
Posted by The Gaertegang Homestead at 10:00 AM 0 comments
Labels: Genesis Bible Study
MY Tesimony
GOOD MORNING> I am here this morning to share with you my testimony. When Pastor Terry first asked me I thought, "He must be crazy!" "I couldn't speak in front of all those people." Then my second thought was "How could I not speak in front of all those people and share what my wonderful Savior has done in my life.
My given name is Danielle Marie Byrd born on September 18th, 1979 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. On that day I was born into the family of Terry and Carolyn Byrd as their oldest daughter. I have a sister Christa who was born three years later. I grew up in Green Center area on a horse farm where I started riding horses as early as I can remember. Horses were my life and everything we did as a family related to horses. Rodeos, open shows, 4-H, I did them all growing up. Some of my fondest memories are from those times we spent together as a family every weekend.
I grew up in a very supportive home with parents that instilled a strong work ethic, manners, and respect for others. Our family did not attend church, but I remember going to Awana several times at a church in Churubusco. I remember very clearly the act of giving my heart to Jesus at Awana one Wednesday night. Though I had uttered the words of salvation, I had no knowledge of what I was to do next. So my true walk with the Lord did not yet begin.
Moving on to the high school years, I attended Churubusco High School. I was a good student on the honor roll, played sports, had lots of friends, was on the prom court. I remember knowing that some of the choices I was making throughout those years were not the right ones. However, several of my friends who did attend church and youth groups were also making those same choices. I thought that the reason my parents were telling me not to do certain things was just because they wanted to be in control of my life. I justified my choices by what others around me were doing. I thought if it was good enough for them, it was okay for me. At least that's what I thought at the time. What I wouldn't realize until several years later is that some of those wrong choices would later lead to great anguish and heartbreak. And they did, once I learned the true reasons they were wrong.
In the fall of 98' after only 5 months of dating I was engaged to my sweet husband, Justin. Though our dating time was short, our engagement lasted a year and a half while I finished getting my degree. It was about 6 months before our wedding that I recommitted my life to the Lord, and began to grow in my walk. For the next two years Justin and I attended a Bible study for 2-4 hours each Tuesday night. Each week we would be challenged to read a certain number of verses and write a little report on what we learned from those verses. It was a great time of growth, and encouragement as we saw ourselves and many people around us really growing in the Lord.
A year and a half after we were married we celebrated the birth of our first son Lance. After that would follow Caleb then Zach. Just two weeks after Zach's 1st birthday I discovered I was pregnant with our 4th child. We were very excited and had only known for 2 days, yet we hadn't told anyone. An ambulance had to be called to our home because I was in so much pain. My right leg had been hurting all morning and I thought is was just some kind of tense muscle pain. All morning the pain had been getting worse and I remember thinking, "if I just lay all the kids down for their naps, I will lay down and rest and I am sure that I will be fine." After laying everyone down, I went downstairs and as I reached the bottom of the stairs I was in an unspeakable amount pain. Jumping ahead to the end of the story I had emergency surgery because the doctors discovered I was having a Tubal pregnancy. After the heartbreaking news that I was loosing our baby I was so excited to be pregnant with I was devastated. For the next week I had people at the house taking care of me and my family because of my limitations from surgery. I don't remember a lot from the weeks that followed, I went into a depression state of mind. I felt so utterly helpless and ashamed that I couldn't do anything to save our baby. I remember thinking I didn't even want to pray. I got so many beautiful cards from some of you sitting right here, letting me know you were praying for me and that God would carry me through this hard time, but I was numb and the words just bounced right off. I tried to assure myself that I had 3 great boys to celebrate, but at that time it just wasn't enough to pull me out of that state of mind I was in. I thought I was never going to be happy again, and it felt as though God didn't really care about me. Although inside I felt those things I knew in my head that those thoughts were not true…I learned during this painful time to take comfort in scripture even if I didn't "feel" like it. Joshua 1:5 reads "I will never leave you nor forsake you". I had full assurance the Lord would restore me in all ways but I still had to work my way back to Him….. It was a process. I knew I was in the middle of a spiritual battle and I could literally feel it. The devil was throwing all kinds of lies at me that he wanted me to believe so that I would abandon my faith. God was trying to ease my pain but I wasn't fully willing to let Him. After all was said and done, God did continue to show His love to me and He did restore my heart, and I was brought out of that dark time. Now, looking back on it, I am thankful for what God taught me in the midst of so much pain. He taught me that His ways are always perfect, and I don't need to understand them. His love is enough to get me through anything, and He will never leave me, He will be there fighting for me as I struggle through hard spiritual battles. I am so thankful for His faithfulness and patience with me.
Just a few months later, not only had God restored me physically but He was continuing to work in my heart spiritually. As if that wasn't already enough He also chose to bless us with our precious Julia. What a sweet addition she has been to our whole family.
Even though God was richly blessing me during this exciting time in my life, I had drifted away from spending my daily quiet time with Him. I had continued to use the excuse "I just didn't have enough time in the day", or "I was just too tired." So when Justin and I went away earlier this year, I had decided this was the time I was going to get back on track with my quiet time. Well unfortunately that didn't happen. Instead I came home with some kind of flu, and disappointment over failing once again to get back on track.
When I returned I felt God really convicting me over my not being "real" with Him on why I wasn't spending time with Him in His word. I knew in my heart what the "real" issue was, but didn't want to admit it to myself or anyone else for that matter. The real issue: LAZINESS! When I said those very words out loud to Him, admitting that I was not putting Him first in my daily walk; that realization was heartbreaking for me. After all he's done for me, I was failing to make my time with Him a top priority. Once I admitted the truth to God, my being luke-warm about spending time together could not be good enough, my good intentions would not be good enough, and my excuses would no longer be acceptable. It was my deepest desire to make the time to sit at His feet and worship Him. It's still a daily choice that I have to be committed to, daily dieing to myself, and my selfishness of wanting to use God's time my way. I share this struggle of mine with you, because I know many of you battle with the same problem. It struck me the other day that I am constantly telling my children that actions speak louder than words. I will tell them, "Don't just tell me you will obey the first time. Show me." I know the same principle applies to us…We can't just tell God we love him with all our hearts and treasure Him above all things and then not follow through with action to back it up. You can't tell someone you love them and treasure them and then not talk or spend time with them…the same is true with God. We have to show Him that He is worth our spending quality time with Him and we must make the effort to develop an intimate relationship with Him. We can only accomplish this by taking the time to daily sit at His feet.
In closing I need to express my gratitude to this church and it's pastors for bringing to my attention the hard issues that need to be dealt with in my walk with the Lord. I am thankful for the convicting questions and lessons taught here each week. I am also thankful for the friends he has brought into my life at just the right times. I am thankful for an amazing husband who loves me unconditionally with all his heart and shows it through his thoughtful actions. I am thankful for his gentle rebuke when he sees something in my life that needs to be addressed. Most of all, I am thankful for a mighty and overcoming God that gives me endless grace and compassion that I do not deserve. I am thankful for a God that truly forgives all the sin in my life past and present. I am thankful for the knowledge He has given me through His word. He has used that knowledge to change my hearts desires. My desire is to be honest with my children as they grow up and give them the knowledge I once lacked. So that they can make choices that will glorify the Lord and be a witness to others.
I am grateful for my salvation. I am grateful to be called a child of God. I am grateful for his unconditional love for me.
Posted by The Gaertegang Homestead at 8:02 AM 3 comments
Labels: Special moments
Monday, January 5, 2009
Genesis Bible Study Ch 13 &14
Chapter 13 talks about Abram and Lot separating because the land and water supply could no longer support the herds of cattle from both men. So Abram let Lot choose whatever direction he wanted to go first. Then Abram waited for the Lord's leading on which direction he should go. Abram was a very wealthy man at this point, but still a nomad.
After Lot parted, God repeated the promise he had already made Abram. "Abram decedents would one day claim the whole land of Canaan. His offspring would be like the dust of the earth in number."
Chapter 14: Shows us the first consequence of Lot choosing to settle so close to Sodom (the men of Sodom were very wicked). He was taken captive as the Kings in the area went to war with each other. After Abram got word that Lot had been captured Abram organized his 318 trained men and went looking for Lot. When they found them they took at the goods, Lot, and all the women and children and other people. After returning Abram had two different offers from Kings to receive goods as a thank you for what he had done. Abram would only accept the food his men had already eaten and then offered a tithe of 10%. He didn't want anyone to be able to take credit for providing him his great wealth. He only wanted God to get the glory, for the things which he had been blessed.
Posted by The Gaertegang Homestead at 7:23 AM 0 comments
Labels: Genesis Bible Study
Mexico Trip #1
Here are some pics from our first trip to Mexico!!! Justin and Bob wanted to stop and listen everytime these guys broke out the instruments!
Lots of pools, we were surprised that they were all wading pools. The deepest we could find was 3.5 feet deep. We spent most of our time on the beach.
You can't see it in this pic but there is a coral reef wrapped in some sort of burlap that Bob and Justin are standing on. It was really slippery, and took them a good 1/2 hour to conquer the task of getting up on it. They had a lot of fun messing around climbing them!
This is one of about 8,000 natural cold springs in Mexico. We visited this site after seeing the Mayan Ruins. You could take a dip in it if you wanted, everyone chose not to, except me!! The water was chilly but not to bad and was 150 feet DEEP!!!! All kinds of little pretty fish were also swimming all around. I did it only because I knew I would NEVER normally do something like this and I might never get the chance to do anything like it again.
We took a day trip to the ruins, about a 2 1/2 hour trip from our resort. It tool an entire day to travel there, tour it go to the spring, eat at Mexican restaurant, and then travel home. It was amazing to see all the work the Mayan people had did so many years ago.....
We ate out at several different "fancy" restaurants while we were there. This night was a Japanese Restaurant. I had never been to a restaurant like this...great fun! The food was SOOOO good too.
Posted by The Gaertegang Homestead at 7:00 AM 0 comments
Labels: Vacation


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The first of the clasp weft rugs I'm working on is coming along nicely! I'm actually almost done with the first one, these pictures are from a week or so ago. Excited to share the finished products when I cut them off the loom!
Recent Posts
09 November 2013
06 November 2013
Learning to Knit
My knitting progress! I did not yet realize that I was 1 stitch too many, and so the rib stitch did not make ribs. I proceeded to knit the entire hat before really grasping that...and then ripped it out and started over. VERY glad I did. I love the final (below).
So, I've never really had any desire to knit, I love weaving, and that was fully satisfying all my textile needs, but I got it in my head that I could make a hat a few weeks ago and so I set out to teach myself how to knit. Wool and the Gang's youtube station has great tutorials, and after watching the ones I needed at least a dozen times each, I think I got a good start! Love my new hat!
The yarn, super soft alpaca, and the pattern are from Wool and the Gang. I went to their store in SoHo when I lived in NYC but I think that's the only shop they have in the US.
I think it's a good Fall to try some new things, and so far, they've all been very fun and exciting. What are you trying that's new this fall?
04 November 2013
Shibori Indigo Dyeing
I went to a shibori indigo dyeing workshop last weekend. We did 3 samples and then 1 scarf. It was so much fun, I had no idea that indigo dye is actually green until it oxidizes with the air.
I'm not sure what I'm going to do with my samples or scarf yet, but I think a sewing project should definitely be on the horizon.


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Not long ago, a pal of mine asked whether I'd heard the latest scoop about Charles and David Koch, the right-wing billionaires currently overseeing capitalism's final solution to the democracy problem. Did I know—did I know!?—their grandmother had been none other than Ilse Koch, the human-lampshade-loving wife of Buchenwald's commandant? Cazart, as Hunter S. Thompson used to say. Overseeing final solutions just runs in the family.
My friend looked distinctly chagrined when I told her it wasn't so. Like many liberal Americans, she hates the Kochs so much that no calumny strikes her as too far-fetched. But as it happened, I was midway through Daniel Schulman's first-rate Sons of Wichita: How the Koch Brothers Became America's Most Powerful and Private Dynasty, and I felt reasonably sure that Schulman wasn't saving Ilse and her apocryphal lampshades for a Harry Potter gotcha toward the end.
Considering that Charles and David are worth more than $80 billion between them—and that there's no real limit on how much of that they might spend advancing their political agenda—being scared witless by the Kochs' rise makes perfect sense. But I do wonder at times whether turning them into the left's ultimate boogeymen involves some unconscious sentimentality. Not, mind you, that they aren't ideally cast for the role, from their ruthlessness to their legendary secretiveness. Most likely, not 1 in 10,000 Americans had heard of them until the Tea Party's rise outed Americans for Prosperity—the 501(c)(4) hydra Charles and David founded in 2004—as the movement's ATM.
Where the sentimentality comes in is that perceiving the Kochs as uniquely monstrous makes it easy to forget that they're only the energetic catalysts of the 1 percent's newly de-fig-leafed agenda. In Los Bros' income bracket, their beliefs about how the country ought to be run—for their benefit, and the rest of us can go hang—aren't outlandish. It's just that putting those beliefs into practice used to seem like an impossible dream, but no more. All that distinguishes the Kochs from less enterprising oligarchs is their resourcefulness and industry in reconfiguring the American political landscape to create a regime that suits their priorities.
By now, that landscape wouldn't change back if Charles and David vanished tomorrow. Yet whenever Harry Reid—not the world's most convincing Capra hero, as we can all presumably agree—excoriates them on the Senate floor, he ends up implying that everything would be hunky-dory if these bad apples would just, y'know, buzz off. Oh, really? Tell it to John Roberts, pal. Or Amway creep Dick DeVos. Or casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, the clownish would-be Caligula—"Make my horse a consul, or else"—to Charles and David's imperturbable, implacable Romulus and Remus.
In any case, imploring the Kochs to restrain themselves— which is all that Reid's hectoring amounts to—is pure bathos. They've got the bucks, they understand better than Adelson ever will how the big casino we call American politics works, and don't forget they're acting on their most devoutly held principles. (Well, Charles is; so far as I can tell from Sons of Wichita, David doesn't count for much except as Charles's satrap, albeit a shrewd one.)
When we're talking about fat cats this ideologically driven, not to mention Cheshire-brainy, to ask them to forswear a mission they were brought up to hold dear—namely, a quest for supremacy, one whose methodology makes no distinction between the marketplace and the marketplace of ideas—for the sake of a bunch of fuzzy-wuzzy ideals they've never even pretended to subscribe to is a nonstarter. True, neither Charles nor David has ever let the cat out of the bag as bluntly as Club for Growth founder Stephen Moore did back in 2009: "Capitalism is a lot more important than democracy." But it's not as if anyone in their crowd denounced Moore as an un-American lunatic, now did they?
Once upon a time, we had a dandy word for people willing to write off democracy as collateral damage in the name of the greater American dream—"kooks," not Kochs. Yet from their perspective, the Koch brothers are perfectly reasonable men. One of Sons of Wichita's achievements is to keep that fact disquietingly front and center; despite Schulman's often-superb eye for the revealing and/or juicy detail, not to mention his lefty credentials as a writer for Mother Jones, he never stoops to caricaturing his subjects as the Koch Ness Monsters of popular lore.
Revealingly, that's an image the brothers are said to be confounded by. Nonetheless, in all sorts of bleak or gaudy ways, living up to F. Scott Fitzgerald's dictum that "the rich are different" turns out to be a trait that does run in the family, starting with—doesn't it always?—Dad.
Dad was Fred C. Koch, a boot-strapping MIT–trained chemical engineer and oilman who married up after meeting his genteel, majored-in-French better half at a Kansas City polo match in 1932. Fred's idea of parenting was hard-nosed: "He was the type of father," one relative says, "who taught his children to swim by throwing them into a pool and walking away." It must have mortified him when his oldest son turned out to be a pantywaist.
The most elusive of the Koch brothers, Frederick still denies he's gay. At his age, that's downright endearing, but you could wish he'd been robustly het enough to suit Fred. His unsuitability for a dynastic role was what made second son Charles the logical heir with twins David and Bill Koch jockeying for position in Charles's wake.
Yahoos they definitely weren't. Frederick attended Harvard, the other three followed Fred Sr. to MIT, and one big squabble among the brothers in adulthood was over how to divvy up Dad's art collection. Mom, nicknamed "Mighty Mary"—not that she was mighty enough to put a stop to more serious feuds later on—was the aesthetic enabler. Of the four, only Charles didn't manifest much interest in culture, steeping himself instead in political and economic theory—the real stuff, not Ayn Rand, with Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek among his early Obi-Wan Kenobis. Say what you will about the decisive Koch brother, his free-market fanaticism rests on firmer (albeit unappealing) intellectual bedrock than, say, Ross Perot's improvised gobbledygook.
Fred Sr.'s ferocious anti-Communism hadn't stopped him from making a bundle in the 1930s building oil facilities for Stalin's Russia. That let him claim he knew collectivism's horrors first-hand. In 1958, the elder Koch was one of the John Birch Society's founding members, and Charles either fell or hewed close enough to the tree to open a Bircher bookstore. But his passion was a brand of libertarianism hard-core enough to be called "anarcho-capitalist" by one dazed ideological confrere.
In the 1970s, by which time Dad was long gone, Charles and David put the family fortune to work to make libertarianism both respectable (hence the Cato Institute's founding) and more than a flyspeck at the polls (hence David's vice-presidential candidacy on the Libertarian Party's 1980 ticket, with deep pockets being the self-acknowledged reason he got the nod). Even then, Los Bros couldn't invest in a cause without wanting to customize it in their image, just as Koch Industries has never acquired a company without imposing its ethos. A dismayed libertarian purist coined the term "Kochtopus" to describe Charles's takeover of a movement he wanted "to run … as other plutocrats run all the other political parties."
Thanks to Charles's rapacity and acumen, Koch Industries never stopped expanding. Today, outdone only by Cargill, it's the second-largest privately owned company in the United States—and it'll go public, as Charles has vowed, "literally over my dead body." One tantalizingly unamplified explanation Schulman provides is an indiscreet assessment by Koch Industries' top lawyer: "If this were a public company, all the officers and directors would be in jail."
That's what Bill Koch says the guy said, anyhow. But Bill, the zaniest Koch brother—he's the id to Charles's eyes-on-the-prize superego—spent two decades as the biggest thorn in his elder sibling's side, launching lawsuit after messy lawsuit to disrupt his brothers' control of the company. That's when he wasn't spending his millions on other forms of eccentricity, like deciding out of the blue to compete in the America's Cup. Improbably, he won.
The family dynamic in play would tax the dramatic skills of a Kansan Eugene O'Neill: Frederick retreating into an aestheticism so quaint it seems lit by gas lamps, Charles emerging as pure, wintry will to power, and Bill's twin David thriving on playing Charles's Mini-Me while Bill hungers for a disapproval that would prove he's gotten big brother's attention. If anything, they come off as four compulsively overdeveloped facets of a single personality, and the key word is "compulsively." Kochs don't do things by halves.
So entertaining that he threatens to run away with the book—he was once saluted in Vanity Fair as a "man whose closet is free of skeletons in large part because they all seem to be turning somersaults in his living room"—Bill is the only one you're at all tempted to like, not least because he's devoted so much of his life to tearing Charles's sangfroid into shreds. (Even when Bill, Charles, and David "reconciled" in 2001, lawyers were present, and a detailed peace treaty was drawn up for the brothers to sign.) Yet precisely because Bill is as uninhibited as his brothers are reserved, his shenanigans end up exposing the brutal sense of prerogative that Charles and David are at pains to keep muted.
The most bizarre episode in Sons of Wichita describes Bill's flying a trio of executives from Oxbow, his own energy company, a couple of years ago to a reconstructed Wild West town he maintains as a private resort in Colorado. They were wined and dined, given a helicopter tour of the premises—and then detained against their will into the wee hours, with no communication with the outside world, to be interrogated about their suspected malfeasances. Because a Koch is a Koch is a Koch, Bill—a litigation addict himself—was "surprised and outraged" when one of the three filed suit for kidnapping and false imprisonment. The case is due to go to trial in November of this year—right around election time, funnily enough.
That coincidence is a reminder that Bill's antics, however piquant, are a sideshow. Americans for Prosperity may not have gotten much return on the more than $400 million it sank into swaying the 2012 election—"the mother of all wars," as Charles called it—but 2014 will likely be a different story. That's not only because the lower and, on the GOP side, more ideologically driven turnout for midterm elections benefits Los Bros' agenda; it's because practice makes perfect. As one former Koch exec says, "They are smart people. They learn from their mistakes."
Indeed they do. Much as we might wish that Charles had stayed dreamer enough to keep throwing away money on the Libertarian Party forever, for him and David to remain third-party outsiders was no way to get a seat at the big table—let alone dictate the menu. While the Kochs can't control the GOP the way they once aspired to control the libertarian movement, their millions—however deleterious in effect—would count for less if winning elections was all Charles cared about. But it isn't.
He thinks in corporate terms, and that means he's all about investing in structures—interlocking ones, preferably. If Americans for Prosperity is the brothers' instrument for influencing elections, once-sleepy George Mason University's Institute for Humane Studies—among other Koch-funded R&D organs—is designed, or so Charles hopes, to turn out free-market theorists as relentlessly, as Schulman puts it, "as if manufacturing libertarian ideologues and widgets were one and the same." Meanwhile, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)— which the Kochs also help bankroll—churns out bills for state legislatures to adopt. Ideally, the upshot is a government of Koch-backed politicians passing Koch-approved bills based on Koch-generated intellectual premises. The top-to-bottom comprehensiveness of the scheme may be unprecedented.
Then again, Charles Koch is 78 years old. How much of this edifice will outlive him is anyone's guess. Given his druthers, David would rather be remembered for other kinds of philanthropy; he's spent a fortune on funding the arts in New York, which didn't stop the lesser of the two evil brothers from getting booed at a 2010 performance of The Nutcracker he'd put up $2.5 million to fund. (Yeah, I feel bad for him too.) Though Charles's son Chase is apparently being groomed to take over Koch Industries, whether he'll also carry on his father and uncle's political jihad is less clear.
Does it matter? In so many ways, the damage has been done—and the Kochs, as I've already suggested, are just the all-too-conveniently appalling poster boys for our transformation into an oligarchy in democratic disguise. That makes it naïve to demonize the Kochs exclusively. So long as we keep singling them out for perverting the system, pretty much every other member of their class with a hankering to do so can go on more or less undisturbed. As one of Bill Koch's lawyers told a juror during one of the family's interminable courtroom brawls, "There's no poor people in this case. Everybody's rich. That's just the way it is."
This review will appear in the July/August issue of The American Prospect magazine.


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Here is our new Mystery Designer!
This is the sneak peek I showed you last week
There were some winners this week which is great! The mystery designer we had this week was…do you think you got it right? Maybe? The designer is….wonderful. She is working on making more templates for you because well everyone loves her templates. Ok, you got it! You were right!
Here is her full template pack!
Make sure you pick it up! Before you buy it let's see who gets it for free:
Facebook: Shannon Waily
Blog: Nathalie
Forum: bumblebee
I will be sending them to you today!
Here is your new sneak peek for this week!
Who made this? Let us know in the blog, the forum, and on facebook! You could win it!


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Lt.'s inferior
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