Melissa's Idea Garden

13 1/2 months ago, Woody Lander stopped breathing for 30 minutes after suffering a massive heart attack at the tender age of 2 weeks. After 30 minutes of doctors working feverishly over Woody's still body, then called his parents in to say good-bye...

As you can see from the photo his parents did not end up saying good-bye after all. As their precious son was handed to them and the tube was removed from his mouth so they could kiss him good-bye, he moved, coughed and the medical staff immediately grabbed him back and got him back onto life support. Against all odds, this child, who had shown no signs of life for 30 minutes, is now alive and well. There are no signs of brain damage and the doctors have no way of explaining how this miracle took place.

I hope this story touches your heart and gives you hope that miracles are still in this world. May God bless you and your family.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 12:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A 12 year old Maryland boy had a toothache, unfortunately his mother didn't have insurance and he had a brother who had 6 really bad teeth in his mouth and she wasn't aware of the 12 year old's problem because his younger brother was the one who was complaining the most. By the time the 12 year, Deamonte, got his tooth attended to, it was too late.

Deamonte had an abscess in his tooth and it would have cost about $80.00 to pull the tooth. Instead the government or someone will now be footing a bill of over $250,000 and this child is dead. The infection spread into Deamonte's brain. After 2 brain surgeries and 6 weeks in the hospital, this child died all because his family didn't have insurance and because they were unaware that he had a problem because they were so focused on his brother who was suffering from 6 rotten teeth. This is a travesty. No one in this country should be without medical care. It almost feels like we have become a nation where only the weatlhy are getting medical service.

To me it is a form of weeding out people based on income. If you can't afford the procedures, then you must not be worthy of the care. My family has not had health insurance for about 7 years. My husband has his own business, but the tax system does not let us deduct for insurance we pay for. When we last had insurance we were paying 1200.00 a month for a family of 4. My husband and I don't smoke. We don't have any known illnessess. Our children were healthy. The one strike we have against us is that my husband and I are overweight. I cannot imagine what our monthly premiums would be now if we were still getting insurance. So we pay as we go (or make payments after the fact) and hope and pray that nothing catastrophic happens.

I went for my yearly physical two weeks ago. We all know that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. And I am getting to the age in my life where more tests are being recommended. Cholesterol checks, mammograms, etc. The physical alone cost $185.00. Then there were the few tests I had done. Glucose because diabetes is in my family, urine test, and pap smear. Those costs added another 115.00. Then the real kicker. My family is prone to skin tags. My grandma has them, my dad has them and I have them. Most of them I ignore. But I had one growing in an uncomfortable spot that I really wanted removed. It kept getting rubbed the wrong way. I have cut off a skin tag myself before from my neck. alcohol on the knife and on the skin, snip, bandaid, and I was done. But this one was in a spot I couldn't reach well and my husband didn't want to do it. So I asked the Doctor. She got out her sterilized scissors, snipped it off and put on a bandaid. That procedure cost $96.00!!!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it! I still don't believe it! It is insane! There was not special requirements, there is no testing that needs to be done, there were no special tools involved. And I could have done a lot of other things with that $100.00. Three weeks worth of gasoline for my car. Groceries. 1/4th of my house payment. Textbooks for my children for next year. There needs to be some oversight. There needs to be some checks and balances on the health care system. It needs to be revamped.

We are in a cycle where people go to the Emergency room instead of to a doctor because hospitals have to take them. Emergency room fees are through the roof! We are also having situations like Deamonte where children are going without health care ( and grown-ups too) and they are dying because of it and leaving behind huge bills that either the hospitals will have to cover or the government will. We need to make sure that everyone gets preventative care. Birth Control pills being affordable and accessible save tons of money on the back end. It cost me $10,000 to have each of my children because I had c-sections and the last child I had was 7 years ago. I wanted and planned for my children, but think of the people who can't afford birth control and end up having the medical expense and then the life long expense of these children.

Tests during yearly physicals that can show possible danger areas and save lives and money later on. Dental care that can prevent death. Eye care...This is common sense stuff! So come on United States of America, get off your partisan duff and do something that really makes a difference to the people that live here!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 9:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today, global warming is a very hot topic. A lot of that has to do with Al Gore's movie Inconvienent Truth. The topic seems to be on everyone's lips. The topic was even covered in my children's Nickelodeon magazine this month. Interestingly, I read a story where global warming has provided scientists with some good information...

Larsen A and Larsen B shelves broke off of Antarctica in 1992 and 2002. They have left behind 3,800 mile portion of uncovered seabed. An international group of scientists just finished a study there last month that led to the collection of over 1000 marine specimens, some of which were previously unknown to science.

This area has been covered up and undisturbed for 5,000-12,000 years so it is providing scientists with as close to a pristine environment as they can get. Previously, studies of this area had to be conducted through ice holes. It will be interesting to hear more about wht they have discovered there as time passes.

For more information on this expedition, click here.

For a very thoughtful discussion on global warming, click here.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 12:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have spent some time thinking through the possibilities and what this discovery means. I have spent some time reading discussion and information on the Discovery website. I got out my Bible are reread some pertinent verses...

I had always assumed that Jesus had ascended leaving behind no earthly remains, but apparently the debate has been whether it was his physical body or his spiritual body that ascended. It does not specifically say in the Bible. So instead of this being a huge contradiction of Christianity, this could actually be proof that Jesus and the others existed as well as end the debate over whether Jesus was married and had a child. And if there was a child, did that child die as a child or grow to be a man and are there still descendants of Jesus on earth today.

Keep tuned as this fascinating story unfolds. Here is the link to my previous thoughts

Posted by Melissa Markham at 8:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Do you like reading and learning? Do you not have enough time in your day to sit down with a book, but you have some time while you are exercising, doing chores, driving to town when you wish you had something good to listen to?

Audiobooks are very expensive when you buy them on cassette or CD, but have you thought about investing in an MP3 player or IPOD? My husband has an IPOD, and he loves it. He listens to college courses while he exercises. It helps get him through the exercise time and he learns at the same time!

At any rate, we have found a great site to download audiobooks from at a fraction of the cost that you would pay to buy the same books on 'hardcopy.' And just think, no shipping fees and no waiting for the book to arrive, you can get it right now!

This month they are offering 15% off if you subscribe to their newsletter. Obviously, there is not a lot of time left in the month, so be sure to hop on the offer NOW:) The subscription to the newsletter has added lasting benefits:

You get 15% off all the audiobooks you buy this month.
You will know the specials to be offered the following fortnight before they are displayed on the website.
Every month you will receive an opportunity to save even more on those specials and on our full audiobook catalogue.
They even have a free book you can listen to when you go visit the site! And there are over hundreds of titles to choose from in every genre! You can even listen to a bit of the book before you buy! There are no monthly fees, no membership. Just great audiobooks for you to choose from! The AudioBookPlace is definitely a place to go visit!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 6:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I sit here this morning with mixed feelings wandering through my heart. What does this research mean? Statistical analysis indicates that the chances that this is the tomb of Jesus and his family is 600 to 1. This means that 599 times out of 600, this would be the tomb of Jesus. This is based on the analysis of how many other families during that time would have had the names Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Joseph, Matthew, etc in their tombs. I am staggered by this possibility...

This tomb was discovered in 1980. There are 10 ossuaries inside. Five of the ossuaries are inscribed with the names Matthew, Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and Mary Magdalene. A sixth inscription mentions Judah, son of Jesus. Another inscription mentions Jesus, son of Joseph. These inscriptions certainly point in the direction of Jesus. But what will this mean to those of us who believe Jesus rose from the tomb? How could his bones be in the tomb? And further more how about those who are adamant against the possibility that Jesus was married and had a child.

Peronally, I never had a problem with Jesus being married. In fact, him being married made more sense than him not being married. And to me it doesn't affect his message to the world. In fact, if there are documents that have been hidden that discuss how Jesus handled fatherhood because people were afraid it would upset Christians, I hope they will be released. I want to know his insights in this matter. But I am not sure how I feel if it turns out his earthly remains are here on earth. I am going to have to work through that and it will be a momentous thing to watch how Christianity evolves and how our religious leaders handle this huge change in our perceptions.

A deeper matter though is ultimately, is Christ's message a worthy one of following? And I say, it is. Loving our neighbor is the way to peace and cooperation and a pleasant world. Regardless of how everything pans out, this message is still worthy of our attendance and devotion. I have long believed that there is much more I don't understand than I do understand. I have felt that God presented himself to different ways at different times based on what they could understand. I look at the laws given to the Jews about what to eat and how to handle dead bodies, etc were laws that were made to protect people who didn't understand the concept of germs. When you meet a primitive people, you don't start showing them the latest inventions, you have to work up to that. Religions around the world are based on loving one another and being kind to others. The bottom line is that only in benevolent behavior will we survive.

I have no idea what is in store for us in the future. A rapture? A rewriting of Christianity? I don't know, but I do know that there is a God. This earth could not have been created randomly without divine intervention. Evolution does not account to me for the variety found on our planet. I will continue to do my best to love others and follow the teachings of Jesus, because to me, the commandment 'love one another' is the only way humankind will survive. And the other commandment, to love God with all my heart and my soul and my strength means I am to look outside of myself and realize there are powers greater than me. God is guiding the direction of this planet, no matter what form he chooses to take and as we 'grow up' more of his purpose will be revealed to us.

So sit back, folks. Listen and learn. As this new finding is revealed and debated, change is on the horizon. Possibly some of the greatest change in 2000 years. The Discovery Channel Website is dedicating a page to this news story and new developments if you want to bookmark it and keep posted.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 10:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

When I first saw this title in my RSS feed list, I had mixed feelings. As a homeschooler, I agree with a year around learning model. I applaud other countries that have moved to the year around model. We adopted it ourselves this past year and it has proved to be a great decision. Children should be learning all the time, why should it stop just because the summer months have rolled around?

As homeschoolers, we believe all that we do is towards learning. When the children play a board game, they are learning to follow rules, make decisions, handle money, etc. When they are reading, no matter what they are reading, they are learning how to form sentences, new words, spelling, new ideas and more. When they are cooking in the kitchen, they are learning math, reading, and chemistry. Life in general is about learning and I would like to see schools in America follow the example of countries, like Australia that follow the year around model. After all, we originally had summers off because we were an agricultural society, we are not an agricultural society anymore, so let's update the system to reflect that. For our family, going to year around also gives us added flexibility for when we want to take time off...a week in May for our beach vacation, time around Christmas for making gifts and spending time with family, etc. So on one hand, I agree with this change that is beginning to occur.

On the other hand, when I read that schools were going to go to a longer day, I was horrified. Children already spend several hours in a classroom, then come home only to have more school work to do. When do they get to spend time being children? We wonder why so many adults have 'crisis' where they start acting out like children. I think it is often because they didn't have the opportunity to be children. Children need time for play, to relax, to stare at the clouds. They don't need every moment of every day filled up for them, or else they have no opportunity to dream and come up with new ideas.

Fortunately, as I read through the article, it appears that the extra school time is being devoted more to enrichment electives: forensics, cooking, art, etc. I think that is great! The kids seem to be enjoying the new experiences and when we allow children an opportunity to follow their interests alongside of learning the basics, everyone wins. It will be interesting to see how these projects pan out.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 10:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I love shopping in thrift stores. I don't get the opportunity to do it as often as I like, but it is nothing but a great big treasure hunt, and I love a treasure hunt! I find new clothing, appliances and gently used items that I pay a fraction of the cost for...what is not to love! So far, I haven't found any treasures destined to bring me a huge income, but someone in Tennessee did recently.

A rare 187 year old copy of the Declaration of Independence was found at Muisic City Thriftshop in Nasville, Tennessee. The bargain hunter paid $2.48 for this document. It turns out it was one of 200 commissioned by John Quincy Adams in 1820. WOW!!!

I don't think I would put this amazing document up for sale (the upcoming auction starting price will be $125,000. I would either find out how to preserve it in my own home or better yet, put it on loan to a museum. My heart swells with pride everytime I read the Declaration of Independence. What an amazing document that has stood the test of time! I hope that wherever it's new home is, this copy will be well cared for and out there for others to see.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 9:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Virginia General Assembly unanimously passed a resolution this weekend apologizing for the state's role in slavery and to Native Americans as well. I suppose this is a grand gesture, but I don't get it...

Why are we apologizing for something done by our forefathers over a hundred years ago? Slavery in general has been around since the beginning of time. And still goes on in some places today (including among tribes in Africa). African tribes would raid one another and then take their captives and sell them into slavery to American slave traders. Are they apologizing for their role?

Slavery is a bad institution, we all recognize that. It was abolished over 100 years ago in the United States. I also acknowledge that the way black people were treated across the United States after slavery was abolished was wrong. When I went to college, I had a friend from New Jersey who informed me that the separation between blacks and whites was worse up there than here in Viriginia. We are moving forward. Why do we want to keep looking back?

History is important for everyone to know and understand. By knowing the mistakes we have made in the past, it helps us to prevent mistakes in the future. But how far back to we go and apologize? Do the Egyptians need to apologize for enslaving the Israelites? Do the Romans need to apologize to all the Christians and other 'worthless' people they threw into the arena to be killed? Do the British need to apologize for conscription? Should we apologize for how we treated the Irish, the Chinese, etc when they came to America? Come on...move forward from the past. It is impossible and unproductive to expect everyone who has ever wronged anyone to apologize or worse yet make reparations.

And reparations is where I am afraid this Viriginia resolution may lead us. First of all, how on earth do you determine how much to pay someone for the fact that generations back there family was in slavery? And second of all, who is paying for this 'grand gesture?' If the essential gripe is that we brought people over from Africa against their will and made them into slaves, perhaps the proper response is to offer any who want it a ticket back to Africa.

People arrived on the shores of America for a variety of reasons. Some came and were criminals, some came and were indentured servants, some came in search of freedom to worship as they pleased, others came in search of riches and some came as slaves. However they got here, the country has evolved. The vast majority of these people carved out a better life for themselves and they are not asking for apologies or handouts. How long is this dead horse going to be beaten? It's dead, it's over. Let's move on.

Why is it that America is always put down as the worst for our past mistakes? Has no other country or civilization in the history of mankind committed wrong deeds or atrocities? I am sorry, but I just don't get it! I also am understanding less and less the whole idea of 'race'. We are all part of one race...humankind. We certainly have different cultures, but we are all brothers and sisters on this planet. Who the heck cares what your skin color is. And here in America, how many black people are actually without 'white' blood in their veins? How many white people don't have a black ancestor somewhere in their family tree? I have an aunt who has researched our family geneology extensively and it turns out that on my father's mother's side of the family there were people of dark skin who married into our family. Great! Does that mean the state of Virginia is apologizing to me? Because if so, I don't want it. My people aren't the highest on the economic ladder, but they have worked hard all of their lives and have carved their niches out in the world. They aren't looking for handouts or apologies and they aren't particularly concerned one way or another over their black ancestry.

So come on, Virgina, America, world...what do you say we get over the antiquated terminology of race and we stop looking back trying to figure out who we need to apologize to for past grievances? Instead, let's move forward into a bright future where all men and women around the world are created equally. Where we all have the opportunity to be productive members of society. The more you point to a group and mark them out as different or somehow 'special' the more you divide the people of the world. We are all in this together. No matter what our history the present is ours to make what we want out of it.

So waht do you say we stop pulling up the buried dead cat to make sure it is dead...I can assure you that it is. Let's leave the cat buried and move on.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 8:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For the first time in over 200 years, a beaver has been seen swimming up the Bronx river and he has built a lodge of mud and wood along the banks of the river.

It is felt that this is occuring due to three things. Clean-up of the Bronx River, growing beaver populations and decreasing habitats. The beaver was trapped to extinction in the area in the early 1800s.

Interestingly, even though there haven't been any beavers in the New York City area for 200 years, the beaver is part of the official New York City Seal. The animal appears in the city seal to symbolize a Dutch trading company that factored in the city's colonial beginnings, according to the city's Web site.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 8:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A Colossal Squid weighing approximately 990 pounds was captured earlier this week by fishermen who were fishing for Patagonia Toothfish.

This 39 foot long Colossal Squid fought back for two hours before being captured. Once actually measured, if this squid does weigh in at 990 pounds, it will be 300 pounds heavier than the largest previous speciman. The squid was frozen and going to be transported to the New Zealand national museum for study.

It is easy to imagine where the legend of the Kraken came from after seeing one of these Colossal squid! Colossal Squid are related to the Giant Squid, but grow to be much heavier.

It is hard to imagine just how large a 990 pound, 39 feet long creature is, but visualization can assist: if calamari was made from this Colossal Squid, the rings would be as large as tractor tires! Holy calamari, Batman!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 10:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Tasmanian Devil is being decimated and is expected to be extinct within a decade if drastic measures aren't taken. In 1996, a mutant disease was found among these cute, but ferocious animals and in some cases, 70% of the populations have died since.

This illness began with one Tasmanian Devil and is as fatal as AIDS. The Tasmanian Devil is known for biting and it appears that is how the disease is spread. Malignant tumors form on the face and grow to the point where the animal can no longer eat and its jaw rots. Attempts are being made to preserve this species by removing healthy colonies into Australian zoos. Only the future will tell what the outcome will be for the Tasmanian Devil. I applaud efforts to save it, but also can't help but wonder if this isn't simply us getting in the way of the natural order of things.

If you are ever looking for more animal facts you can find just about any known fact online so searching for facts online is great. Not only can you get animal facts but you can attain all kinds of facts and information.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 9:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last spring, some friends and I started discussing the possibility of a co-op this year. We all really wanted to give this a whirl, but wanted to agree to some basics up front. We met a few times over the summer and began our co-op in September. It has been awesome!

We have a great group of 7 families. If you are thinking about venturing into co-op land, here is what has worked for us.

1. Everyone contributes based on their area of expertise. We were fortunate enough to have three musical parents and they gave the children music instruction the first half of the year. We have a couple of other mothers who are very interested in science and they have thrilled the children with science experiments. One mom is very organized, she was assigned to be our treasurer and field trip planner and the person to keep us on 'time' during our co-op day.

2. We each paid 10.00 per child into the co-op kitty. We have used this for materials for classes and for paper products for parties. It has worked out very well.

3. We tried to pick families with compatible adults and children. We all had belief systems that were along the same lines. We all wanted to teach science the same way. We had children that had enjoyed interactions in the past and while we have a variety of ages, we also have compatible ages so children have someone near their own age to play with.

4. We decided what we wanted to teach for the year. We chose to teach science all year, creative writing/reading club all year, art for 1/2 the year, music for 1/2 the year. We do a different elective each month. We have covered basic sign language, basic cooking skills, basic embroidery and knitting, gardening, and world cultures. Still on tap are life skills, U.S. geography/culture, and pond studies. We have p.e. time each week. We celebrate birthdays once a month with cupcakes. We take one of our meetings each month and schedule a field trip. We have been to a zoo, to a local artist's studio and children's museum, we are setting up a multicultural fair, we intend to visit Williamsburg, dig for minerals at Moorefield Mine and a science museum.

5. Be flexible. We have rearranged our daily schedule several times. Our latest change looks like this:

10-10:30 PE (this gets the kids a chance to get some heebie jeebies out and to see their friends at the start of the day, while teachers prepare)
10:30-11:15 Science
11:15- 12 Reading/book club/writing
12-1 lunch
1-1:15 show n tell . This gives the children opportunities to share neat items or news
1:15-2 art/music
2-2:45 elective of the month
2:45 - 3:15 playtime
3:15-3:30 clean up and leave

6. Come prepared to learn and to have fun!

We have been truly blessed by our experience this past year. We are uncertain what next year will bring, but we are all thrilled to have been part of our co-op this past year. If any of this information is useful to you, that is great! Good luck!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 9:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

You may be wondering why the title of my blog is Yesterday's Hopes. Well, first of off, I found coming up with a name for my blog as painful as coming up for a title for a story! My last blog was Home Sweet Home, which was what I started out wanting to write about, but is about as trite as you can get.

My hubby's blog is WhatToFix.com because he likes to write about way to fix things. He really likes helping people. My son's blog is "JacksSuperBlog" As you can see, he is as good at a title as I am! Yesterday's Hopes is the name of my Ebay store and my Ebay identity. I have closed my store for a bit (the fees just keep getting higher and higher). But that is still my Ebay identity for everything I sell. I chose it because I like to sell older items. Things that were once very important to people and that have a nostalgic place in people's hearts today (like a Six Million Dollar Man Action figure, a favorite children's book, or the first Monopoly game). I sell other things, but those are the things I like to sell the most.

Since I hope to continue to sell on Ebay, I decided for now to use that identity as my blog title for continuity and name recognition. Plus, I couldn't think of anything else;) Unlike my husband's blog that tends to stick with a central theme, my entries tend to be all over the place, even though on my last blog they tended to focus on animal and science news.

So now you know why it is called 'Yesterday's Hopes' and you will be able to sleep better tonight!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 10:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Watch out son of Jaws...the humans are striking back! Only in Australia would you find a man with enough nerve to wrestle a shark with his bare hands!

And yes, the vodka he had consumed probably helped! While fishing for squid, 41 year old Phillip Kerkhof saw a bronze whaler shark flopping about in the water nearby. Without really thinking it through, he grabbed the 4 foot long shark and wrestled it to land.

While his pants did get torn when the shark tried to take a bite, Mr. Kerkhof didn't suffer any injury.

Kerkhof, who said he had "a fair few vodkas" before he went fishing, said he only realised the danger of his actions the following day.

"It's not something I'd recommend to do," he said. "When I sobered up I thought about it and I said, 'I'm a bit of an idiot doing it'."

This occurred near where the 1975 movie, JAWS was filmed.

Kerkhof has been enjoying his catch and said it was restaurant quality and tasty! He even shared with his mates.

Good on ya, mate!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 6:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have been blogging for a couple of years now. First I blogged for a really cool blog out of Lynchburg, Virginia. I was one of several support writers, but when the main writer decided he had had enough of constant blogging, my own contributions slowed and then stopped all together. Blogging takes so much time and energy.

Then I moved to Homeschool Blogger.com and started my blog "Home Sweet Home" I have been blogging there for over a year, though not as much in the last few months due to technical difficulties and being exceedingly busy. I decided I wanted to move my blog home somewhere else as changes in their system makes their blog difficult to use. So here, I am trying to figure out a new blogging platform and system. I spent most of this afternoon, just trying to change the blog colors to ones that I liked! Next I have to figure out how to make a section on links, so I can link to my other blog and other interesting places I like to visit.

I am a mom of four. Two stepsons that are grown and a 10 yo son and 6 yo daughter. We homeschool our two youngest and after seeing the affect of school on our two oldest, we are glad to be able to have this opportunity. I have enjoyed writing in one form or another since I was in elementary school. My work has been published in some children's magazines and in The Writer. I sell books and other interesting nostalgic items on Ebay and I write copy ad for a local business.

In my spare time I like to read, play sudoku and do needlepoint (not that there is much spare time).

I look forward to exploring my new blogging home. Thanks for stopping by!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 8:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)