Seriously, Learn About Commas!

I bought a cute frame with this stitched saying in it:

Even a small
star,
shines in the
darkness.

Apparently, it's Finnish. I liked it, and so I bought it, and I hung it up above my piano. However, something kept bothering me. You see that comma after "star?" Reading it with the comma kept giving me the heebie-jeebies. I thought I was crazy. I looked up the quote. I delved deep inside my grammar-radar and discovered that yes, there was a reason to be heebie-jeebied out. *shiver

How did I pay money for this?!

I decided to fix it! I took the frame down. The back was sealed paper. Easy. I cut through the paper. It was nailed into the frame. Easy, I pried up the nails. Okay, not so easy --it took me a long time to pry up those nails! Then I ripped the ribbon that went around the board, but it was all right because it was on the back. Careful not to break the glass, I pried up the board. I kept prying up the board. I tried 8 times to pry up the board and then, voila! The stitched saying was sewn into fabric that had been glued down to the ribbon, which had, in turn, been glued to the board. Sigh. Okay. Not stopping now. I carefully pried up the fabric until I reached the offending comma. Turning it over, I nervously snipped the thread and pulled out the obnoxious punctuation mark. Uh-oh! It's connected to the "r!" No worries --I just tucked it in behind the cloth. Putting it back together was easier than taking it apart, and now the saying is back on the wall (sans the paper that was in the back, of course) without the glaring grammatical mistake.

Oh, the things I do for grammar. But I couldn't have it on my wall for my children to see! I have priorities, people! And now it looks beautiful:

Even a small
star
shines in the
darkness.

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Hiring Jess was the best thing I've ever done. Well, it's one of the best things I've ever done. I know it's temporary, but it has given me so much freedom and joy! She'll take the boys to the park or the museum, and yesterday she even helped some of the boys with cleaning their room and putting away laundry. My house is tidy, but the best part is that today, I get to start on the office! Organizing, filing, cleaning, tossing, shredding --it will be wonderful! By the time this girl goes on her mission, I think my life-long dream of finally having an organized office will be realized. Huzzah!

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Baby doesn't like to eat solids. He's my first child to hate 'em. I'm not sure if it's due to my awesome milk supply or his age, but I'm not too worried. I figure he'll have plenty of time to eat solids, and I'll keep trying every day. He's been liking oatmeal better than others, but today we get to try banana!

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I've been invited to become a permablogger on a faith-based LDS blog. I'm incredibly nervous and incredibly humbled, but more than that, I'm incredibly excited. This blog will discuss hard issues, but it won't debate them. Instead it will discuss how to strengthen individual faith, families, and communities. I think we need more of this in the online world, since the vocal minority tends to drown out those who are quietly living the Gospel and take their issues to God, rather than to like-minded heresy.

More details of what it is and where you can read it to follow!