I have to learn this myself, very soon.

I was asked to teach a Women’s Self-Defense Class last Thurdsay at our Women of Hope camp to the assemblage of girls at the camp. Boy was it a lot of fun! I did about a half an hour of lecture (be safe, be cautious, trust your intuation, think ahead, that kind of thing), and another half an hour (or so) of practicing martial-arts type techniques for practical physical self-defense. I really enjoyed myself, and judging from the amount of laughing and carrying on, I think the students did, too. However, in the past couple of days I keep thinking of things that I should’ve mentioned, or should’ve done… is teaching always like that?\par
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Anyway, should I ever do it again, I think I would include:\par

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• Almost all fights go to the ground immediately – something to avoid

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• Ground techniques – especially that one shouldn’t waste energy by struggling with somebody on top of you – wait for your moment.

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• Arm grabs from the front (these are some of the easiest to evade and I forgot to mention them!)

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• Hair-grabbing defenses.

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Plus more that I’ve already forgotten.

Yes, all of those years of math finally paid off. Today I made Kung Pao Chicken for a company dinner, and the recipe called for 4 cups of cooked rice. Well, I know that one should use twice as much water as rice but I just couldn’t figure out in my head how much of each to make exactly 4 cups. So I wrote out on my white-board two equations:\par
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W + R\’c3\’82\’c2\~= 4c\par
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R= 1/2W\par
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Then I used my oh-so-advanced algebra skills to write R in terms of\’c3\’82\’c2\~W and feed it into the first equation. I was so proud of myself because I actually remembered how to do that! Who says you can’t use algebra in day-to-day life?\par
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Incidentally, to make exactly 4 cups of rice you need 2 2/3c. water and 1 1/3c. rice.

Just remember – We all think we’re normal, and we’re all wrong.

While I was living with my grandmother for a year I had the opportunity to think long and hard about where and whom I wanted to be when I reach my autumn years. I wrote down a long list of Dos and Don’ts, some of which were directly demonstrated (or not) by my grandmother, but some of which I came up with little outside inspiration. I want to write them in caligraphy and hang them somewhere where I can read them from time and where I CAN’T misplace them. But, in the meantime, since my sister-in-law, Emeth, said that she puts things on the internet that she doesn’t want to lose, I thought perhaps I’d post them – and maybe get even more suggestions for added dos and don’ts!\par

Things to Remember

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(When I’m Old)

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PLEASE

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Do – lend a sympathetic ear to other’s troubles with a mind to ways you can help.

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Do Not – make other’s troubles your own. “There’s a kind of woman who lives for others – you can identify those others by their hunted expressions.”

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Do – tell stories from your past when asked, especially to children – unless there seems to be a LOT of interest, shoot for brevity.

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Do Not -\’c3\’82\’c2\~take any opportunity to talk of people or situations that your audience does not know or care about (i.e. your cousins grandson’s wife’s first husband)

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Do – knit, crochet, or do other handicrafts – especially baby gifts and children’s sweaters!!

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Do Not – (or very rarely) give advice without being asked, except in extreme situations.

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Do Not – complain of other young people’s busy lives & schedules – they’re just as busy as you once were.

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Do\’c3\’82\’c2\~- be thankful for the time and help you receive from your younger relatives.

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Do – always have food to offer unexpected guests (my grandmother was GREAT at this!)

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Do Not – attempt to force people to eat when they’re not interested. (ditto )

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Do – treat your grown children & grandchildren as adults, even when they’re decades younger than you.

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Do Not – give orders to those mentioned above, especially about things that you have no authority over (i.e. their kids).

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Do Not – cling to your driving privileges any more than you cling to a smooth face or youthful figure.

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Do – ask your children to evaluate your driving skills every year past __ and stop driving unconditionally whey they recommend you do so (give your car to your primary driver, maybe?)

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Do Not – insist that you can do things (ex: babysit your great-grandchildren) when the decision-makers are clearly uncomfortable with the idea.

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Do\’c3\’82\’c2\~- gracefully accept people’s polite refusals of your offers to help.

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Do – strictly adhere to the parents wishes when caring for your grandchildren or great-grandchildren.

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Do – keep an organized record of your medications so that if someone needs to assume control of your meds they’re not too confusing.

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Do – keep a list of things your relatives can do to help.

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Do Not – make up little jobs for your relatives just so that they have the privilege of doing something for you. Nobody sits around wishing they could do some useless and unnecessary thing for somebody else – they’d probably be happy to do something actually helpful though.

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Do Not – expect anyone to read your\’c3\’82\’c2\~ mind as to what you need from them.

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Do – buy real-estate with a mind to handicapped accessibility – nobody wants to be an invalid but that doesn’t prevent them from becoming one.

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Do Not – be morbid.

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Do – make (realistic) plans for your near future, and keep your home looking like one.

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Do – cultivate your own interests – a busy person about her OWN business is less likely to be busy about OTHER’S!

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Do – carefully examine what you spend your time doing – is it what you would want to spend the last year of your life doing?

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Do – be content in all situations (obviously something to work on now)

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Do – volunteer help either at home or with volunteer organizations. There’s always something to be done.

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If – you are living with relatives who are caring for you full-time, and can afford of it – frequently offer to pay for someone to come in to help you, so that your caretakers can go away or just have an uninterrupted day to themselves.

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Do Not – be always losing things – cultivate habits about where exactly to put things away. If necessary, ask someone to help you get organized so this is possible.

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Do Not -\’c3\’82\’c2\~comment on the appears of a new double-chin on a pregnant relative (or anyone else). Comment NOT appreciated.

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\’c3\’82\’c2\~

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It’s so easy to take ourselves too seriously. I was doing a thought experiment today in the shower (a fertile time for my imagination). I was thinking about how we will all be so easily forgotten. First I thought about people in history. How many names are even remembered, let alone remembered with any attached details, I wondered? Well, just off of the top of my head, these are the people I remember from the 16th century (not the names I would recognize, just the names that immediately come to mind and whom I am positive lived during some part of the 16th century):\par
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My mother told me once that\’c3\’82\’c2\~the things that you worry about seldom happen – and the disasters that do happen are things you hadn’t even thought about! So why worry in the first place?

Oh, to have read this article during my first year of marriage – bitterness is such a sickening disease. Praise God for for the sanctifying influence of marriage!

I’ve been thinking about this Universal Curriculum thing… I intended it to be a gradual thing, but still as I ponder what else I would put in a “life textbook” for my kids I am rather disappointed with how few things come to mind! It seems I haven’t been learning very much after all!

Pay for convenience. If you talk about doing a process, somebody will always say “you know, they have these thing-a-ma-jigs now that make that a whole lot easier!” And they’re always more expensive than doing it the old-fashioned way. There are exceptions to that – when economies of scale come into play – it\’c3\’82\’c2\~might be possible that freezer burritos are cheaper per each than home-made one with ground beef, beans, etc, because the manufacturers buy in bulk, for example. But still… a convenient gas grill is much more expensive than a time-consuming charcoal one. Deboned chicken is more expensive than bone-in. Paying someone to hand-craft invitations is more expensive than making your own. You get the idea. Any comments?\par
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Lydia and I frequently talked about the things we wanted to make sure that our children knew by the time they left our house. This morning, when I was talking to my Mom, I was telling her that I should write down the things that I’ve learned and am continuing to learn about life in general, so that I don’t forget them, and she suggested blogging them. So I think that I shall set up a category called Universal Curriculum and add to it occasionally, as I remember things and as I learn things. I suppose that’s not too much different than Musings\’c3\’82\’c2\~except that these will be written more in the format of something that I’d like to eventually compile into a “textbook” for my children. So, keep in mind, these are subject to change!\par
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A\’c3\’82\’c2\~few Life Lessons are:\par
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The Time Value of Money: Money now is worth more than money later. Ex: $500 invested today is worth more than $500 invested 5 years from now. This can and probably should be a big factor in many life decisions, for example family budgeting and education choices.\par
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Many “crises” sort themselves out over time without extra effort on our part \’c3\’a2\’e2\’82\’ac\’e2\’80\’9c especially those crisis primarily related to other people.\par
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Amy Hayes said in her talk at Ruth Frazier\’c3\’a2\’e2\’82\’ac\’e2\’84\’a2s bridal shower that “what a husband really wants in a wife is somebody to be sweet to him.” (loosely quoted) This really struck me at the time, and of the dozens of jewels of wisdom I\’c3\’a2\’e2\’82\’ac\’e2\’84\’a2ve no doubt heard this one has actually stuck around in my mind. It\’c3\’a2\’e2\’82\’ac\’e2\’84\’a2s oversimplified of course, but the essence of it is very true: a man wants a woman who thinks he is a great guy, greets him with a smile and a kiss at the door when he gets home and is always “in his corner” to quote Pastor Tuuri. She\’c3\’a2\’e2\’82\’ac\’e2\’84\’a2s always on his side, even when criticizing or even rebuking him: her goal is his improvement and success and sanctification. I\’c3\’a2\’e2\’82\’ac\’e2\’84\’a2ve found that the evenings when I actually stop what I\’c3\’a2\’e2\’82\’ac\’e2\’84\’a2m doing to greet my husband warmly almost always go much more smoothly than those when I\’c3\’a2\’e2\’82\’ac\’e2\’84\’a2m “too busy” to take time to welcome him.\par
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Nothing lasts forever. “Things” don\’c3\’a2\’e2\’82\’ac\’e2\’84\’a2t, people don\’c3\’a2\’e2\’82\’ac\’e2\’84\’a2t, relationships don\’c3\’a2\’e2\’82\’ac\’e2\’84\’a2t, problems don\’c3\’a2\’e2\’82\’ac\’e2\’84\’a2t, nothing. This can be comforting. Especially the part about problems!\par
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If you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time. Is that from Doug Wilson? Don’t remember.\par
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