Wham-O Frisbee Review: If It's Not A Wham-O It's Not A Frisbee!

Genuine Official Wham-O Frisbees 

If you're looking to buy a  Frisbee, you've come to the right place! This page features the genuine, official Wham-o Frisbee. You will discover what to look for when you are choosing a Frisbee and, as a bonus, learn a bit of trivia about Frisbees.

Wham-o Frisbees are available in various sizes and styles from mini ones to professional tournament ones. They are available for use recreationally and for use competitively in sports like Ultimate, Disc golf, Freestyle and Dog competitions.

Did You Know...

• That the word Frisbee came from the Frisbee Pie Company in Connecticut?
• That the game of Frisbee began with a pie plate?
• That in 1957, Walter Frederick sold his idea for a toy flying saucer to the Wham-O Company in California? That they created a plastic disc that was almost impossible to break and they called it the Frisbee?

What To Look For When Buying A Frisbee

A good Frisbee should be comfortable. It should have a feeling of thickness and strength. You probably know that cheap Frisbees are readily available and can be purchased for as little as a dollar at the dollar store but they do not last and they do not fly very well. We personally have a bin in the garage full of cheap Frisbees but once you have used a real one you discover that the cheap ones really are bad.

If you are asking yourself what kind of Frisbee is the best for me and you are a recreational player, choose a basic Wham-O Frisbee.

If you are looking for a Frisbee for your child, it should be small enough for your child to grasp and hold comfortably.

If you haven't already read it, you might enjoy my page, A Beginner's Guide to How To Throw A Frisbee.

Wham-O's 50th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Series Frisbee Disc 

2007 marked the 50th anniversary of the original Frisbee disc. Wham-O produced this collector's item in celebration. This set includes a 175 gram UPA approved competitive frisbee with graphics celebrating the 50 years. These discs are definitely softer. They fly better and are easier to catch than cheap Frisbees. No longer readily available at retail outlets, you can still find this set on eBay by clicking right here:

Frisbees Are Affordable Fun 

I am amazed at the low cost of Frisbees. Well, not I suppose if you consider that they are just pieces of plastic. Still, for less than $10 you can buy an activity for that is easy and fun and encourages physical activity. It is easy to grab a Frisbee and take it along wherever you are going and playing with a Frisbee does not require any other equipment. What better choice could we make for our families and our friends in this day and age? Frisbees are fun for everyone. You don't have to be tall, strong, young or old! Just grab a Frisbee and go!  You can find Amazon's complete collection of Wham-O Frisbees here.

Brenda
Treasures By Brenda


Author's Note: This post was originally written elsewhere in 2009.

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Thanksgiving Menu of Recipes Review

Cooking for Thanksgiving is one of my favorite times of the year.  For many years, Mom and I have cooked the day before Thanksgiving prior to any of our house guests arriving.  It was like the calm before the storm.  That day has always truly been a day of fun and laughter as we taste tested our way into sheer exhaustion that never felt better.

This year, several family members are coming in early, so Mom and I will be sharing the kitchen with a few others.  I already know I am going to miss that special time for just the two of us, but, like all things, we will adapt and no doubt, still enjoy fun and laughter.  In fact, I am already mentally devising ways to annoy my sister, who will be one of our early birds.

This year it will be more like the days of our youth when the girls in the household will pack into the kitchen like a can of sardines to cook, while the guys brilliantly stay out of the way.   Now that I think of it, I wonder, what do those guys do?  Perhaps I will spy on them this year and I can report back to you all later.

Note:  You can click any of the photos to see the actual recipes.

Breakfast Breads

As much as I enjoy cooking, I do not like to cook first thing in the morning.  I like to drink my coffee and wake up slowly.   How my morning begins has always affected my entire day.  If I wake up late, that stressful feeling of being rushed doesn't seem to leave me even as the day changes into early evening.  If I wake up to immediate work, I never seem to find that peace and I tend to be irritable all day.  Therefore, I prefer to either cook something the day before or something that can quickly be mixed together and stuck in the oven to bake while I drink my coffee and wake up fully.

Here are a few muffin and bread recipes that our contributors on Review This have shared with me and I, in turn, will share them with you.

 Healthy Pumpkin Muffins Cranberry Nut Muffins Coffee Can Pumpkin Bread

 Festive Broccoli Salad Recipe

Festive Broccoli Salad

Anything that can be prepared ahead of time, especially the day before, is going to be a real winner in my book!

BarbRad's Festive Broccoli Salad sounds like a delicious recipe, plus it looks like one I could make ahead and leave in the refrigerator.   If someone gets hungry before the complete Thanksgiving dinner is ready, this salad is something they could easily help themselves to without ruining their appetites.

It would also be a very pretty addition to the Thanksgiving dinner table, provided you have any left after your guests know it is available while they wait.

The Thanksgiving Turkey

For as long as I can remember, the turkey has been one of the main dishes on our Thanksgiving table.  I cook it the same way my mother prepared her Thanksgiving turkey.  It is always delicious, tender and moist.   After all, not one enjoys a dried out turkey!

I share all of my secrets for  How to Bake a Turkey on Cooking for the Holidays.

 How to Bake a Turkey

 Turkey Noodle Soup Recipe

Making Another Meal with Turkey Leftovers
 
Since our guests stay for nearly a week, we need meals on the days after Thanksgiving.  No one really feels like cooking huge meals the following days or spending a lot of time in the kitchen.  Recipes that can be created with leftovers are the perfect solution to the days after Thanksgiving dinner dilemma.

Susan Deppner has shared her recipe for Homemade Turkey Noodle Soup.  This is such a great recipe for those turkey leftovers, especially for those cold, damp days that always seem to follow Thanksgiving.



Wishing You All a Wonderful Day, Delicious Meals, and Safe Travels this Thanksgiving Holiday!

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Slow-Feeding Dog Bowl Review

Daisy is a bit suspicious of her new
Outward Hound Fun Feeder slow-feeding dog bowl.

Is your dog a chow hound, determined to set speed records every time he eats his meals? Or perhaps you have a dog (possibly a large breed) that has problems with bloat or regurgitation.

If so, then your precious pet could use a slow-feeding dog bowl such as this one that we recently bought for our Labrador Retriever, Daisy. Here's my review of the Outward Hound Fun Feeder.

Daisy is a sweet girl, always curious, never wanting to miss anything that the humans in our family are doing, especially when it involves food. She's a begger who loves people food (and yes, I take full responsibility for that, but we're doing better). Her habit is to rush through eating her dog food so she can spend the majority of the dinner hour at my feet, waiting for me to cave in and share what's on my plate.

Fortunately, Daisy doesn't have a problem with bloat, but many dogs are prone to the condition. Bloat happens when dogs gulp their food, filling their stomachs with air and food, causing the stomach to twist or rotate. Bloat is a serious problem and can cause death, so it's important to take measures to slow your dog's input of food. Regurgitation, when food backs up into the esophagus and into (and out of) the mouth can be caused by medical issues, but eating too much, too fast is a common cause as well.

(Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article.)

The ridges and valleys of the Fun Feeder bowl
forces the dog to eat more slowly as he
accesses small quantities of food at a time.

If your dog suffers from bloat or frequently regurgitates her food, a slow-feed dog bowl can be very helpful. How does it work? Look at the pictures I've included with this review. The ridges and valleys pattern in the Outward Hound Fun Feeder separates the food into small sections that require the dog to slow down and find the food, reaching into the narrow sections to eat just a few pieces at a time. In fact, the product information claims that your dog will eat up to 10 times slower with this bowl and, after using it with Daisy for a couple of weeks now, I have no doubt that that's an accurate figure.

Now when Daisy eats, she actually works her way around the bowl, slowly seeking out each section and each individual morsel of food. In our case, if I feed her at the same time I feed our family, we can eat in peace while she's peacefully eating. Plus, since digestion has already started, she's satisfied and feels full sooner which cuts down on the begging (yay!). Since the food is able to travel to the stomach a little at a time, the bowl certainly helps with prevention of the bloat or regurg problem.

Daisy slowly works her way around the bowl,
eating just a few morsels at a time.

Interestingly, Daisy seems to find the Fun Feeder entertaining. She tends to be wary of new things, and she did eye the bowl suspiciously at first, but when we tried it out with a small amount of food it didn't take long before she figured out exactly what she had to do to eat.

Another thought we had going into this dog-feeding experiment was that she might just use her big paws to tip the bowl and pour the food out onto the floor. Nope, didn't happen. This well-designed, well-made bowl has a non-skid rubber base plus it's heavy enough that I think even a much bigger dog would have a hard time tipping it over.

The bowl holds 4 cups of food (Daisy's daily ration is about 3 cups). The Fun Feeder is also available in a 2 cup capacity size for use with smaller dogs. Besides the flower-looking design (perfect for our Daisy) there's also a swirly and a maze design if you'd like to change up the food dispensing from time to time or for multi-dog homes.

I should add that the bowl is top-rack dishwasher safe, made from BPA, PVC and phthalate-free plastic. Designed in Colorado USA, manufactured in China. Available in three colors and two sizes.

Bottom line, Daisy and I award this slow-feeding dog bowl 5 stars. It works perfectly to slow her eating and she actually enjoys using it. Little does she know, it's good for her digestive tract, too. I hope your chow hound likes her new bowl, too.

UPDATE: It turns out that many dogs gulp their water, too, often leading to annoying hiccups or (worse) regurgitation of both food and water. By request, I've added a link below for a very well-reviewed anti-gulping bowl, also available in several sizes and colors. 

QUICK LINKS: 
eBay has excellent prices on slow feeder dog bowls
Outward Hound's Fun Feeder from Amazon
Anti-Gulping Bowl (to slow down drinking or eating)

~ Susan Deppner
Read more of my reviews

P.S. A slow-feed dog bowl is a great gift idea for any dog owner! 

Thank you for pinning and sharing with other dog owners.

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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Reviewing Totes For The Bride

A Bridal Tote (When you know she will need it)

We were thrilled last month when our daughter's special guy popped the question and she said, "Yes!". So, now there is a wedding to be planned and I am already thinking ahead. Obviously, my daughter and her fiance will do most of the planning so that their day will be perfect for the two of them, but there are things that I can prepare for that they may not think of. For instance, I know that a tote for the bride will be something that she will need but won't think of.

I love my daughter dearly but she did not inherit my organizational gene. Then again, she might have but has suppressed it because I drove her crazy as a child with my lists for everything! Let's be honest, on her best day she forgets stuff like what she needs from the grocery or a shopping trip. She makes more trips than necessary because she didn't write down what she really needed to get which results in not having the very thing she needed to cook or perform a task with. I can't tell you how many times I have seen "that look" come over her face and I will say, "What did you forget, Sweet Pea?"

Knowing this about my lovely daughter, I think that a special Bride's Tote will be one of the gifts that I can give her for the wedding. The morning of the wedding, I can help her pack it with all of the things she will need to take to the church. You know like make-up, slippers to wear while getting dressed, hair supplies, tissues and all sorts of bridal necessities. (I'll make a list!) This will not be a day for her to realize that she forgot something that she will really need!

Lillian Rose Bride Tote

I like the sample shown above because it is a nice size and has some inside pockets for placing small items in. I also like the simplicity of it. The tote looks pretty sturdy and should hold everything she will need to take in order to get ready to walk down the aisle.

There are many options when it comes to a bridal tote and you can even get ones that are for the wedding party. I might suggest that to my daughter as a gift for her attendants but that will be up to her. She can get one that matches the one I give her or she can pick one that is totally different. There are so many sizes and styles to choose from. I do plan to look on Zazzle also because I know there will be some unique and different styles to choose from there.

I plan to give this tote for the bride to my daughter at one of the showers that will be held for her. I'll pack it with some fun things and use it as the "gift bag" so to speak. There might be a few things that I think she will need for the day of the wedding but I'll also put things like her favorite lotion, bath salts and spa type items that she can pamper herself with before the wedding.

As I have begun my search for the perfect Bride's Tote, I have noticed that it is important to read the descriptions and the reviews. Sometimes, pictures are deceiving as to size so make sure the tote will be a good size for your bride. Construction (sturdiness) is important. I noticed on a few that I thought were pretty nice that the people who purchased them were disappointed because the tote was not of good quality so pay attention to all of those things.

I already know that she will be a stunning bride on her special day and if I can help her not be stressed about little things, well, that is my job as the Mother of the Bride. Along with her super organized Matron of Honor, we will help her get through the preparations and be able to walk down the aisle knowing that she didn't forget one thing.

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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Review of The Replacement Wife by Eileen Goudge

The Replacement Wife, by Eileen Goudge, attempts to answer the question, “How would it work out practically if a wife with a terminal illness tried to select the one her husband should remarry after her death?

Camille is a professional and very successful matchmaker. She has been to the weddings of many happy clients. So when she learned her cancer, which had been in remission, had returned and even spread, she began to lose hope that she would live to see her two children grow up. Her doctor gave her a 3% chance to live, and that was only if she submitted to another stem cell replacement transplant. She was not sure she wanted to go through that kind of fight again with so little chance of winning.

She is so upset by the prognosis, that she stops off at a bar on the way home. Her physician husband Edward has left a message saying he has to work late again, and she knows the children are home alone, with her fourteen-year-old daughter in charge of her nine-year-old brother, Zach.

Her memories flash back to her own childhood. Her mother had died when Camille was only fourteen, the same age as her daughter Kyra. Camille's father was a traveling man, gone three weeks of every month. Only their live-in housekeeper Rosa, who could barely speak English, was there for her and her eleven-year-old sister Holly. Her grandmother Agnes lived on the other side of the country. Agnes called often, suspicious that her son never seemed to be there. Camille had manufactured an imaginary friend of her mother's so she could give Agnes a name when she demanded to know who besides Rosa was looking after them. She was afraid of having herself and Holly reported as being left on their own and placed in foster care. She found herself taking charge of the household the way her mother had, making sure her father remembered birthdays, meetings with teachers, etc. She never wanted Kyra to have to go through what she did.

Camille's husband Edward had been a rock to her during her illness. But that illness had also disrupted their relationship to the point where he no longer looked forward to going home. Camille's illness had been in remission so long he now felt things were finally able to go back to normal. While Camille had been getting her bad news, he'd been visiting a travel agent, getting information on places they might vacation to celebrate their approaching 20^th anniversary. He felt that could be a new beginning for them.

When Edward and Camille were finally alone after the children went to bed that night, Edward was devastated by Camille's news and he urged Camille to fight for her life. Camille was reluctant since there were no new experimental drugs she qualified to try. She had another plan. She decided she would use her professional skills as a matchmaker to find her replacement as Edward's wife and as a mother for her children.

Edward was not receptive to this idea. He insisted he only wanted Camille. He was not eager to remarry. She insisted the children needed a stable life and someone there for them when they came home. She envisioned them coming home to an empty house as their dad continued to work late almost every night. She didn't want Kyra to have a childhood like hers. She insisted Edward come to the next “meet and greet” she threw for her single clients so that he might find someone. It all seemed very logical to her.

What she hadn't counted on was the human element. People like making their own decisions. She also hadn't counted on getting into a new drug trial that put her cancer back in remission. You will have to read the book to find out what happened to all concerned.

The plot intrigued me. What married woman with children would not wonder what would become of her family if she died? But I also wondered how trying to play God with relationships in this situation would work? It's one thing to know and even hope your husband would remarry. It's quite another to try to find another woman to marry him shortly after you are gone, and have her spending time getting to know your husband and children while you are still alive and watching everything -- even to have her along on family vacations.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is intrigued with human drama, how relationships, marriages and families work, and what cancer patients experience not just physically, but emotionally. I believe the author took a question – How would it work if a wife picked her own replacement? – and turned it into a well-thought-through novel. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, though I might have wished for a different ending.  

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Have a Party with Your Bear Day

There are a bunch of bear-related celebration days throughout the year.  Lets review of few of them, beginning with the upcoming Have a Party with Your Bear Day on November 16th.  It's not clear whether the creators of this day meant a stuffed teddy bear, a toy bear, someone dressed in a bear suit, or a real bear! If you happen upon a real bear, use caution. :)  

Perhaps it would be best to just READ about a real bear, such as in this interesting story about the magnificent Grizzly Bear by Sylvestermouse, after you finish the party with your favorite stuffed bear.

The Teddy Bear Picnic

This 'bear-party' day is not the same as the Teddy Bear Picnic Day, celebrated on July 10th.  Since this day occurs in the summertime, it's the perfect time to grab your favorite stuffed teddy bear, pack a picnic lunch, and enjoy some outdoor fun with your teddy bears, family and friends.  Everyone could bring their favorite teddy bear!

Check out the Teddy Bears' Picnic (Classic Board Book) on Amazon.

  Special 'Bear' Days

 

Handmade Honey Bear

Teddy bears are very important to children (young and old) and they deserve recognition.  There are a variety of special days throughout the year set aside to celebrate these cuddly bears, plus bear-related days for fictional bears and real bears.

• January 18 is Winnie the Pooh Day
• February 27 is Polar Bear Day
• March 16 is National Panda (Bear) Day
• July 10 is Teddy Bear Picnic Day
• September is 'Save the Koala' Month
• September 9 is the annual National Teddy Bear Day.
• October 12 is Take Your Teddy Bear to Work Day written by our Review This contributor Olivia Morris
• November 7 is National 'Hug a Bear' (stuffed bear) Day
• November 16 is Have a Party with your Bear Day 

Many teddy bears have become famous, including Paddington Bear, Rupert Bear, Pudsey Bear, Smokey Bear and, the most famous and my favorite, Winnie the Pooh (who has his own special day on January 18).  

Favorite Teddy Bear

Baby Bears in Crochet

My son's first teddy bear was forever his favorite stuffed animal. He acquired him as an infant and they were 'inseparable' all through his early years. He named him simply "Teddy".  He looked a bit like the ones shown above.

Party Time with your Bear

A Collection of bears on Etsy

Any of these bears ~ or your own favorite teddy bear ~ would enjoy a party on Teddy Bear Party Day every November 16th.



*Note:  For an in-depth description of the crocheted bears featured in this article, check out "A Parade of Plush Teddy Bears" on the Crochet-Crafts-Critters blog.

*(c) Wednesday Elf 11/14/2015. Updated 1/16/2024

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Site Review: House of Rumpley - Home Decor Site

When we first step into any house, we know almost instantly if we feel at home, and everyone desires a home.  

People who have to go to work everyday need a refuge from the stress of the workplace, and that place should be their home.  For those of us who work from home, we need areas of the house where we can go and find our refuge.   We all desire to create just the right balance in a house where every member of the family can feel at home.  That is what you will find in the House of Rumpley. 

From the kitchen to the den, to the bedrooms and bathrooms, you will find wonderful decorating ideas, as well as DIY projects, which happen to be among my own personal favorites.

Let's take a peek through some of the doors at the various rooms and floors in the House of Rumpley.

The Kitchen in the House of Rumpley

As I would do if I were touring any home or department store, I will start in the kitchen area. My own home kitchen is painted blue, so I am instantly drawn to the article about Red Kitchen Ideas.   I love the idea of adding touches of red in my kitchen, but Bev goes further than just recommending small red appliances.  She actually explains the effect the color red has on all of us and why we would desire including it in our kitchens.

I also loved the coffee decor post!

Be sure to take a look at the other fun ideas Bev "rounds up" for us on the Decorating Kitchens floor at House of Rumpley.

More Decorating Ideas from House of Rumpley

While the kitchen demands my immediate attention, the other rooms of our homes are equally as important when it comes to beautiful decor.

There are fabulous ideas for Decorating Family Rooms, Living Rooms, and Decorating Kids Rooms, but don't miss out on visiting the bathrooms in this house.  While there are several really beautiful suggestions for bathroom decor on House of Rumpley, the ideas that really caught my attention were the ones that made me howl with laughter.  I do love a home that is filled with laughter!  You simply will not believe where the toilet brush is hidden.  I am laughing even as I write this article and remember the most unusual accent piece in this bathroom.  (No, I'm not going to tell you!  You have to look for yourself.)

Decorating by Themes in House of Rumpley

When decorating our homes, there are times when we want a consistent theme.  House of Rumpley has you covered there too.  With themes like "Granny Chic Decor", Decorate with Red, White & Blue", and "Steampunk Style Home Office", anyone would be intrigued to explore the depths of these decorating styles and suggestions.

I may not be a "granny" myself, but I gotta tell you.  That Granny Chic Decor has my name written all over it.

The House of Rumpley Network of Sites

Now, we have explored a few areas of the foundation site of House of Rumpley, but I do want to take a few minutes to delve deeper into the complete network of sites.

The House of Rumpley network includes several sites and Bev aptly describes the different areas of her site as floors in the House of Rumpley.  I love that description!  It immediately brings to mind a home with multiple levels or my favorite department store with several floors.

Like many families and homes, the House of Rumpley has expended and grown over the years.  Just as members of any family can be found at various addresses, different "floors" of the House of Rumpley network are found online under different url addresses. They each have their own "personality" or topic, but they are all equally wonderful and fun to visit.

House of Rumpley Website Review by,

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Review of Challenges in Identifying Lighthouses from a Cruise Ship

I love to photograph lighthouses and traveling on a cruise ship is a great way to see lots of lighthouses from the water.  When the lighthouse is near a port it is easy for me to identify the lighthouse and look up information for it online.  The challenge becomes when the ship is not near a port and I see a lighthouse in the distance.

The lighthouse above was photographed after the cruise ship had left the port of Vancouver.  We had been traveling for about 2 hours when I saw this cute little light just outside the window. I grabbed my camera and got a few photos but I had no idea where we were or the name of the lighthouse.  Now was the time to  put my detective skills to work!

Getting a Closer Look

I knew I would need to know some details on the lighthouse in order to determine the name of the lighthouse, so I zoomed in for a closer shot of the building.

The square tower and white railing on the lighthouse would be good clues as I looked at lighthouse photos.

 

Zooming out for Further Clues

Next, I zoomed out for a long shot to see if the surroundings would give me any clues.  I had been so focused on the lighthouse at first I missed the beautiful mountain peaks in the background.  What a glorious site!  Still I wasn't sure which mountain I was viewing and at this point I wasn't sure if we were off the coast of Canada or the USA.

Doing a Bit of Research

When I got home,  I went online to try to determine the name of the lighthouse and the mountain.  Here are the steps I took to find my  answers.

• First I posted my long shot photo on Facebook and asked friends for help.  I got various different guesses on the name of the mountain from Mt. Rainier to Mt Hood to Mt Baker.  These gave me some food for thought and starting points for my search.
• I first tried to do a search for lighthouses off the coast south of Vancouver.  In studying the maps I had found that the ship had gone down the Inside passage from Vancouver to near Seattle before turning out to sea.  I first searched the  Canadian lighthouses and found some that looking very close to the lighthouse in my photos, but as I zoomed in on each lighthouse I found something just a bit different so I continued my search.
• Since several people had identified the mountain as being in Washington state, I decided to search for lighthouses off the Washington coast.  Again, I found lots of lighthouses along that Inside passage but none were exactly like my lighthouse.  
• Finally I decided to do a search of "Washington lighthouses with mountain in background."  I thought it was a long shot but then I've found most everything is available somewhere online.  In this search I was successful, someone else had posted a photo online almost identical to mine with the lighthouse and the mountain in the background.  From this photo I was able to go further and find more information on both the lighthouse and mountain.

 

Patos Island Lighthouse

The lighthouse I discovered is on the western tip of Patos Island.  This island is in the San Juan Islands off the coast of Washington.  The lighthouse was built in 1893.  

The mountain it turns out is Mt Baker in Washington which stands at 10,781.

Art from my Photographs

I enjoy creating art from my photographs.  Here is the Patos Island photo on a piece of wood wall art from Zazzle.

Patos Island Lighthouse Wood Wall Art by lighthouseenthusiast
Browse more Patos lighthouse Wood Wall Art at Zazzle

 

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Reviewing Knitting Handbooks

Learning To Knit: Will I master the needles?

I have been looking at Knitting Handbooks lately, because I have decided that 2016 will be the "year of the needles" for me. I want to learn to knit or at least become better with what little (very little) skills I have in this hobby. I can do the basic knit stitch and the basic purl stitch but I'm very slow and awkward with the needles and yarn. So, I plan to ask my family for a couple of books that can help me in this journey.

I know from my many years of crocheting that you need to practice, practice, practice in order become proficient in the craft. I am in no way a master in crochet but can hook my way around just about any pattern. In order to get started, I am working on a scarf using the knitting needles and some blue yarn. If it turns out looking good, it will be a Christmas present for my husband; if it turns out looking like a 5 year old did it I can always use it as a dusting cloth. I figure that I won't learn unless I just dive in and work on something. A scarf seems like a good project to start with and I liked this pretty simple waffle stitch since it will give me practice with both the knitting stitch and the purl stitch, counting and working with the needles and yarn. It won't be much different than crocheting a scarf in that you follow the pattern and remember when to do the knit stitch and when to do the purl stitch. I am finding it is a little harder to determine which row you are on unlike crochet where it seems more obvious but that may be a matter of training my eyes to look for certain stitches so that I will know. 

What books should I start with?

I am thinking that the best place to start is with a book or two that covers the basics along with moving on to more advanced knitting techniques. Sure, I could just ask for a book with patterns but until I understand the basics, I know I will just get frustrated. In my search for the right book, this one caught my eye. I liked the title but then I think the book would be very helpful, too.

Stitch 'n Bitch: The Knitters Handbook

Not only does the author cover the basics but she goes further in explaining more advanced knitting techniques and she does it with humor which I think I would enjoy. She also tells the reader how to fix mistakes (I'm sure I will make many) and that will be really helpful for my beginner skill level. I think I may be able to join the "chicks with sticks" (knitting needles) in the quest to make some fun and funky along with some traditional knitted items following Debbie Stoller's instructions.

I know when I was first learning to crochet, the terminology sometimes confused the daylights out of me. I might see something like FPDC and think what the devil does that mean? Well, now I know it means to do a front post double crochet stitch and I also know how to do that with my yarn and hook. I am guessing that knitting will be no different. There are going to be directions in a pattern that will at first glance make no sense to me at all. So, this book looks like a wise choice for a beginning knitter like myself.

Knitting in Plain English: The Only Book Any Knitter Will Ever Need

What I like about this knitting handbook is that it promises to teach in plain English and not in terms that I am going to have to go to a glossary to figure out. I like that idea! Learning the way to use my needles and yarn to make something neat without having a thesaurus next to me to determine just what she is telling me to do. The basics in basic terminology, that sounds pretty darned helpful.

It remains to be seen if I will learn to knit with the same confidence that I have for crocheting. I am determined, though. In the past the using of two needles instead of one hook just seemed to be beyond my capabilities but that was a mental block, I think. So, maybe I have passed the first hurdle...I CAN do this. It will take persistence and practice and I am willing to put in the hours to really learn to knit.

I have some time left before Christmas morning to find out if my family paid attention and got me at least one of these books. So, in the meantime I am working on my little scarf that may be under the tree for my hubby or it might be in the rag drawer, only time will tell. By the way, the color I chose will look good on my husband and it is the team color for the Indianapolis Colts which is his favorite football team. I figure he might actually wear it, at least on game day, if it doesn't look too amateurish. Here is what I have so far. It is working up very slowly but I don't mind being the turtle in the race, after all that rabbit never wins anyway! I will continue to work with the yarn and needles and keep a piece of paper next to me to mark down which one of the rows I am doing in the repeat of the pattern to make the waffle look and hopefully it will turn out to be something my husband will be proud to wear.

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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The Day Before 911: A Review

September 11, 2011 (911) Changed the Lives of All Americans

The Day Before 911 reflects on how 911 changed a DOD teacher overseas and the students he served and their families. It begins in 2011, ten years after the terrorists took out the World Trade Center. At that time Elliot was teaching in Germany. He hadn't expected to be back in the classroom. He had cleaned it out at the end of the previous year when he retired to become a writer. But life happened, and he returned to teaching after all. Although he had been teaching high school students in the previous year, he is now facing sixth graders because that's the grade that needed a teacher.

Ground Zero, Image License CCO, Public Domain

As he enters the class, he sees he needs a way to build rapport with these new students. He decides to use the school’s coming commemoration of the ten-year anniversary of 9/11 as an excuse tell them a story about a hero named Tony who loved baseball and stood a very good chance of being drafted into the big leagues. Then terrorists attacked the World Trade Center in New York and brought down the Twin Towers, killing over 3,000 people,  Tony quit baseball and joined the Marines. He was blown up eleven times, but still kept going back to fight.

Elliot’s students found this hard to believe, but he explained that the qualities that made Tony good at baseball were the same qualities that made him a good Marine. He had learned teamwork in baseball and would have done anything for his teammates. Elliot told his students that Tony had “loved baseball and his teammates so much that he joined another team and put on a different uniform just so he could protect the way of life that he was giving up."

As Elliot was beginning his story, one of the girls raised her had to say that her birthday was (September 11.) It hit Elliot that she had never been able to celebrate her birthday on the actual day she was born. The terrorist attacks had happened on her very first birthday. After that, they always celebrated her birthday on September 10, the day before 9/11. It struck Elliot that since he’d taught high school before, this was the first history class he’d taught that had not remembered 9/11. 

Sources: All quotes used here are from The Day Before 9/11 by Tucker Elliot. I noticed after writing this that Amazon also featured some of these quotes readers, including me, had highlighted, on its Kindle edition page.

9/11 - The Filmmakers' Commemorative Edition

See What Happened on that Horrible Day in American History

This documentary film was shot as a result of videographers being at the right place at the right time. They were there to record the training of a firefighter at a firehouse a short distance from the World Trade Center when the first tower was struck.

Child Abuse in the Military

One of he undercurrents in The Day Before 9/11 was child abuse in the military. Elliot blamed himself for the death of two sisters, Angel and her little sister Grace. Angel had many absences from school he should have investigated in person. He also didn't read an email Grace sent not long before her death that might have motivated him to intervene.

He was at a family gathering after burying his grandmother. He was to fly out the next day to speak at a conference. His mother had ordered take-out pizza and he was supposed to pick it up. While waiting to go, he was scanning his email and saw the header of an email sent a few hours earlier by Angel. By this time his nephew was screaming loudly for him to go get the pizza. He deleted the email, not realizing its importance, and had gone to pick up the pizza.

The deaths haunt Elliot through the rest of the book and he fights his guilt and his loss of faith because he believed God hadn't answered his prayers for his students. He knew his students were dealing with the issues these videos discuss. He especially saw the effect on the children of not only absent parents, but the fear of the children whenever a parent left to go to a new post.

These are some of the same issues faced by children Tucker Elliot taught.

Two Special Girls - Sami and Angel

Although this book will show you a lot about living as an expat civilian on a military base during wartime, you will learn much more about what it means to be a teacher and a human being. As Tucker Elliot looks at how his life and the life of his students changed after 9/11, he is filled with shame and guilt. Four girls entered his life -- Sami in Korea and the others, Angel, Grace, and the Birthday Girl, in Germany. Two of them died, and he believes if he'd followed his better instincts instead of withdrawing he might have saved those two who died.

The first special student was Sami. She walked into his life the year he was teaching in Korea. She loved soccer, and he was the athletic director. He used soccer to reach her and help her be strong in the face of change. When the school had to close for ten days after 9/11 for security reasons, Sami had missed Tucker. When she returned after the school reopened, her parents came with her. Sami hugged Tucker tightly and buried her face in his chest as she said she'd missed him. She introduced her parents. He was impressed with both. Her father was high on the chain of command, and Tucker could tell he was as good a father as he could be while gone so much. Tucker thinks:

I knew right then, my worst fear was going to come true.

Not letting the terrorists win means sometimes the good guys are going to die.

I thought, God no. Not this family.

When the classroom was empty, Tucker would go from desk to desk and pray for each student.

Marine looking at wall of Vietnam Memorial 

Source: Wikipedia, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/

He himself came from a military family. His dad and uncle had fought in Vietnam. His uncle never came home. His grandmother said she had 'received a flag for a son.' Tucker had visited the Vietnam Memorial in the company of his dad, but he couldn't get his dad to talk about his war experiences. Then at the memorial, his dad's actions changed. As he walked along the wall he ran his fingers over several names and prayed. When he came to his brother's name, he fell to his knees, rolled himself into a fetal position and cried.

Tucker had been named after his uncle and felt the burden of needing to be heroic himself and live out the kind of life his uncle never had the chance to live. He saw it as a heavy burden and says he resented carrying that burden because he could never be as good as his uncle.

There is too much pain and wisdom in the book to share it all here. But I will try to share some of it.

He says:

Teaching isn’t rocket science. It’s about being engaged, listening, paying attention. Despite conventional wisdom, you don’t need to talk a lot to teach well. You do need to care, though. Not so much about what people think of you or whether or not they like you, but about the kids and doing what’s best for them.

Sami's family was transferred to another part of the world. She emailed Tucker, but he never opened her emails. When he got to Germany the next year, he met Angel.

It turns out Sami had been Angel's best friend, and was delighted to have Tucker as her teacher. By the time Tucker met Angel, her mother, whom he'd not yet met, was already suffering from depression. Tucker had visited Ground Zero by then, and he reflects, "So many lives had been lost on that day, but ... I'd come to understand that military children continued to be victimized by these attacks." They were constantly losing their parents to deployment, not knowing if they would ever see them again. He couldn't deal with seeing that pain. He had transferred to Germany so he could teach in a larger school and be more anonymous.

It didn't work, though. Angel found him and told him Sami was upset because he didn't answer her emails. Angel had brought a brand new mousepad. She put it down beside where Tucker's computer would go and wrote her name on it in big letters. When he asked what she was doing, she said, 'You forgot Sami. I don't want you to forget me, too.'

Tucker still hesitated to be involved outside of class hours and usually went home at the end of the school day. Compared to the way he had interacted with his students in Korea, in Germany he was almost aloof as he tried to maintain emotional distance.

Autumn and Winter, and Sami Again

Five months later Sami entered his life again. Angel missed three days of school just after Sami came back. He thought of checking on her, but Sami was draining his energy.

Autumn Leaves, © B. Radisavljevic

Tucker tells us autumn and the first part of winter seemed to move along with no visible problems, but then all hell broke loose. Sami's dad got called back to Qatar and Angel's dad was sent to Kuwait. Neither family was ever the same again, nor was Tucker. By this time he strongly suspected something was wrong in Angel's family, but Sami wouldn't betray Angel's confidence to tell him what she knew. Angel herself said she wasn't supposed to talk about "family stuff."

Sami kept nagging Tucker to go visit Angel's home to see why Angel was missing so much school. Instead of going, Tucker told Sami to send her mother over to check on Angel's family. When Angel's family was leaving for their new location, Tucker gave Angel his email address and encouraged her to get in touch with him if she needed help. He told her talk and email were two different things.

I got the feeling that Tucker had not opened his emails from Sami because he could see how dependent she was on their relationship and it drained him emotionally. It's obvious, though that he cared about her. He also cared about Angel. Angel finally did send him an email after she left, but he didn't see it until several hours later, and then circumstances discouraged him from opening it. I never could understand why he ignored the girls' emails. I wanted to yell at him to read the emails. His deleting an email from Angel (under pressure from his nephew) may have sealed her doom. (See introduction to video module above.)

It's tough to review memoirs sometimes. Novelists create the ending they want. One can't always control how one's own life or the lives of others will turn out. I don't want to spoil this narrative by telling you all of it. I have hinted at what changed Tucker Elliot. He carried the footprints of Sami, Angel and Grace in his heart. I believe they will always be there. Perhaps he will also discover who he really is and I hope he finds his peace with the God he seems to have lost faith in.

At the end of the book he is on his way to the place where his uncle died, wondering what he will think and feel when he arrives. He wonders if he will find God and forgiveness at the end of his journey. He wonders if he will be strong enough to be good. He ends he book with these words:

...pain is the harbinger of hope. You have to be alive to feel pain. If you are alive, then you have purpose. If you have purpose, then you have hope....God I want to tell Sami that....I want to tell Sami I'm sorry.

The Day Before 9/11


Don't miss this teacher's heartbreaking account of his emotional journey after September 11, 2001. We may have seen the photo of the jets hitting the Twin Towers in New York, but much of the damage done that day is not visible to outside observers. It damaged the spirits of many like Tucker and the families of the children he taught. It destroyed the lives of many who were not even in the United States that day. It just took more time.



See more of my  reviews of books for adults at Bookworm Buffet, the blog I started for that purpose. At Books to Remember, I review some of the best children's books and educational resources for teachers created before Common Core Standards existed. The books  I review there will supplement any honest curriculum and may not be politically correct, even if the companies that published  them now are.

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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