Mrs. Happy Housewife

The Tim Tebow commercial which aired during the Super Bowl was supposed to lead to the destruction of life as we know it. This was the event that the Mayans warned would end the world.

Or not.

I'm waiting to hear a lot of backtracking today. More than likely, though, those who made such a ruckus will pretend nothing happened. Maybe being exposed for the Chicken Littles that they were will wake a few people up. I doubt it.

I hope the good folks at Focus on the Family are enjoying all the free press the pro-abortion folks have given them. This tempest in a teacup is still providing press this morning as most news outlets are discussing how non-controversial the ad was. Even the celebrity gossip website TMZ is shocked that this benign commercial was the source of so much hoopla:

After weeks of hype and outrage, the Super Bowl commercial with Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow finally aired Sunday night -- so what was all the fuss about?

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what the rest of us have been asking since the story on the Tim Tebow commercial first broke: What is all this fuss about?

In case you missed the ad, take a look for yourself:

A successful son and his loving mother - definitely a recipe for apocalyptic mayhem 

It's almost time for another Great Backyard Bird Count. Seven more days, to be exact. This year's count will begin on Friday, February 12 and end on Monday, February 15. There will be prizes for the photo contest and a general prize drawing among all the participants. How nice! All of the prizes look great and would be helpful teaching aids in our homeschool; however, we love to participate in the count each year, regardless of potential prizes. It is great fun to look for birds and to contribute our collected data.

To participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count, print a tally sheet for your area. Next, you will need to spend at least 15 minutes counting the birds in your area. You can observe in your own backyard or at the park down the street. Just make sure to keep a separate tally sheet for each location and for each day you participate. After you count your local birds, enter your tally at the Great Backyard Bird Count website.

After the bird count, scientists will use the data collected to answer many questions. That's why the bird count is so important.

Teachers and homeschoolers might like the free classroom materials available.

Here are the rules for the photo contest. Here are the galleries of photos from previous years.

If you don't have a bird guide book to help you with identification, you can look online for help. I often use eNature.com for identification. I take the closest photo possible and use it as a reference when I return home. In fact, I identify most flora and fauna in this manner.

I hope you all will join the Great Backyard Bird Count this year. Remember: it begins in only one week. 

I know it's a bit late in the season to think of snowmen, but I wanted to show you this adorable miniature that D made for me. He's only 1 3/4 inches tall!

I asked her to make him look like a traditional snowman and she did. However, this little guy is made of polymer clay and toothpicks and he's been baked in the oven so I can keep him forever. No melting in the sun for this snowman. 

As we study the Medieval Age this term, D is reading and discussing with me Thomas Cahill's "How the Irish Saved Civilization". Yesterday, she came upon a very interesting quotation from mystery and fantasy author and Christian apologist G. K. Chesterton:

For the great Gaels of Ireland
Are the men that God made mad,
For all their wars are merry,
And all their songs are sad.

Isn't that so accurate? I have yet to meet an Irishman who didn't love a good fight, a melancholy song,..and a strong drink. I think many would agree with Chesterton.

The quotation comes from Chesterton's "The Ballad of the White Horse," a narrative poem published in 1911 about King Alfred the Great's defeat of the Danes in England.

Chesterton explains the ballad in his Prefatory Note:

This ballad needs no historical notes, for the simple reason that it does not profess to be historical. All of it that is not frankly fictitious, as in any prose romance about the past, is meant to emphasize tradition rather than history. King Alfred is not a legend in the sense that King Arthur may be a legend; that is, in the sense that he may possibly be a lie. But King Alfred is a legend in this broader and more human sense, that the legends are the most important things about him.

The cult of Alfred was a popular cult, from the darkness of the ninth century to the deepening twilight of the twentieth. It is wholly as a popular legend that I deal with him here. I write as one ignorant of everything, except that I have found the legend of a King of Wessex still alive in the land. I will give three curt cases of what I mean. A tradition connects the ultimate victory of Alfred with the valley in Berkshire called the Vale of the White Horse. I have seen doubts of the tradition, which may be valid doubts. I do not know when or where the story started; it is enough that it started somewhere and ended with me; for I only seek to write upon a hearsay, as the old balladists did. For the second case, there is a popular tale that Alfred played the harp and sang in the Danish camp; I select it because it is a popular tale, at whatever time it arose. For the third case, there is a popular tale that Alfred came in contact with a woman and cakes; I select it because it is a popular tale, because it is a vulgar one. It has been disputed by grave historians, who were, I think, a little too grave to be good judges of it. The two chief charges against the story are that it was first recorded long after Alfred¹s death, and that (as Mr. Oman urges) Alfred never really wandered all alone without any thanes or soldiers. Both these objections might possibly be met. It has taken us nearly as long to learn the whole truth about Byron, and perhaps longer to learn the whole truth about Pepys, than elapsed between Alfred and the first writing of such tales. And as for the other objection, do the historians really think that Alfred after Wilton, or Napoleon after Leipsic, never walked about in a wood by himself for the matter of an hour or two? Ten minutes might be made sufficient for the essence of the story. But I am not concerned to prove the truth of these popular traditions. It is enough for me to maintain two things: that they are popular traditions; and that without these popular traditions we should have bothered about Alfred about as much as we bother about Eadwig.

One other consideration needs a note. Alfred has come down to us in the best way (that is, by national legends) solely for the same reason as Arthur and Roland and the other giants of that darkness, because he fought for the Christian civilization against the heathen nihilism. But since this work was really done by generation after generation, by the Romans before they withdrew, and by the Britons while they remained, I have summarised this first crusade in a triple symbol, and given to a fictitious Roman, Celt, and Saxon, a part in the glory of Ethandune. I fancy that in fact Alfred¹s Wessex was of very mixed bloods; but in any case, it is the chief value of legend to mix up the centuries while preserving the sentiment; to see all ages in a sort of splendid foreshortening. That is the use of tradition: it telescopes history.

G.K.C.

You can read the entire ballad online. You can view the actual White Horse in Uffington, England.

An aerial view of the 374 foot White Horse. 

It is an amazing Bronze Age landmark that was, sadly, unbeknownst to me.

Just another discovery made on a homeschooling rabbit trail. 

Ok, either President Obama has a serious bowing fetish or he's getting a lice check. Really, I can't think of any other reason why the man would bow to Mayor Pam Iorio of Tampa, Florida. She's an Italian who was born in Maine and grew up in Temple Terrace, Florida, so we can't say it's an Asian or Middle Eastern custom.

All this bowing has me thinking of a cute little movie by my favorite pint-size actress:

While many were watching the Grammy Award Show, the children and I had our own TV viewing.

First, we watched "A Special Duggar Delivery". It was so sad to see the suffering of the Dugger parents and their tiniest baby. We're glad to hear that Josie is now doing well. The show will resume this Tuesday at 9pm Eastern Time. If you visit the TLC website, you can view photos of Baby Josie. You can also visit a forum and read silly and inane comments about the Duggars. I especially enjoyed the accusation that the Duggar children are uneducated about World Cultures. Most Americans do not send their children off to foreign countries to aid the indigenous population. That is more of an education than reading a textbook. What a logic fail!

Next, we viewed the rest of the "Emma" miniseries on PBS's Masterpiece Theater. Hooray! We loved it. Though it did not include all of our favorite lines or scenes and did have an anachronistic PDA (public display of affection), one member of the family has petitioned for this "Emma" to now be declared our Emma. Is this so long and farewell to faux British accents? No, I think we can love more than one Emma. However, for those of us who long to see a bit of post-wedding bliss (my daughter), this newest incarnation illustrated just how romantic Mr. Knightley was.

Just an aside: people always rave over Mr. Darcy, but I've always been a Mr. Knightley fan. I'm not talking about looks, just character. To me, Mr. Darcy is just too high maintenance and is really a "fixer-upper". Mr. Knightley, though, is nearly perfect and aptly named. Just wanted to get that off my chest. Thanks.

So, who is this Lady Gaga? (No, I don't really want to know.) Doesn't Gaga sounds like baby babble.

For those wondering, the newest Duggar baby is reportedly doing well. Josie Brooklyn, born more than three months premature and weighing less than two pounds, is now seven weeks old.

Tomorrow, January 31, at 8pm Eastern Time, a "Special Duggar Delivery" will air on TLC. Here's a sneak peek, courtesy of TLC:

Also, if you use Tivo or a DVR, you will need to update the name of the show, which will now be called "19 Kids and Counting".

Did you view Masterpiece Theater's "Emma" on PBS last Sunday night? When it was shown last year in England, it garnered less than stellar ratings - leading many to announce that the Age of Jane Austen Movie Adaptations was now over. However, after watching Part 1, I completely disagree with the naysayers. I thought the miniseries was wonderful. Though some may dislike an adaptation which strays a bit from its literary birth, I have yet to discover any part of this newest Emma which would make her creator fume. Any writer who begins a story with "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."  is one who keeps her tongue firmly in her cheek. A reason why Jane Austen has never gone out of style is that she was an acerbic wit and much of her novels must be read with a twinkle in one's eye.

Speaking of style, did you experience quite a bit of deja vu viewing while watching "Emma"? I did and the trivia page at IMDB reveals why: I've seen many of the costumes in other favorite movies. One most particular is the lovely gown worn by Emma at the Weston wedding. Formally, it was donned by Edmond's love, Mercedes, near the beginning of "The Count of Monte Cristo". Reusing costumes is, of course, a common practice for period films, but it is still great fun to play the "Where have I seen that dress/coat/bonnet before?" game.

Part 2 of "Emma" (60 minutes) will air this Sunday night and Part 3 (60 minutes) will air on Sunday, February 7. Any missed part can be viewed online until March 9, 2010. Also, a second Twitter Party is on for this Sunday night. Details at PBS.

The PBS website also offers many sweet treats, such as behind-the-scenes videos, an article from the Chawton House Library, a screenwriter Q & A, and much more.

I found a great site yesterday for those of us who need or want new furniture. Knock-off Wood shows, step-by-step and for free, how to build mimics of pieces found in magazines or fancy-shmancy catalogs. Naturally, I have already found at least three plans I'd like to try...or, rather, I'd like my wonderful husband to try.

I think Ana, the woman behind Knock-off Wood, is great for showing the rest of us how to save hundreds or thousands of dollars by building our own furniture, as my husband and I found out when we built our bookcase, craft cubbies, and large window seat. And, of course, another great thing about building your own furniture is that you can build to your own dimensions. This is important when you have limited or odd-sized space.

I hope Knock-off Wood continues; it looks like a very helpful website.

A little thrifting fest this weekend brought this glass bluebird to live on my desktop. It's not actually thrifted; I found it at Big Lots. It's turquoise, though I don't think you can tell in this photo. I'm a bit color blind and most "turquoise" items just look light blue to me. Does anyone else have this problem?

Did you know that Turquoise is the hot color for 2010? I picked up several turquoise pretties at Big Lots, in addition to the bluebird. I decorate with a lot of sunflower yellow, dark blue, and apple green, but I think turquoise will liven things up around here. I don't want to get bored and adding splashes of a new color is cheaper than redecorating.

By the way, in many myths and fairy tales, the bluebird symbolizes happiness. It must be true because I'm very happy with my little bluebird.

Movie buffs might recall that the Bluebird of Happiness was the focus of Shirley Temple's first childhood box office flop. Ironically, the movie also received two Academy Award nominations.