We're back.

Well, we had a great time, being half-eaten alive by mosquitosw being the worst trouble we had (Girly had over 40 bites when we came home). We had a delightful time, lots of good food (remind me to tell you about banana boats!), and lots of good company. I learned how to play Spades, soaked in the sun, and waded in the creeks. Drew a tiny bit, but not as much as I would have liked to.

We had a family meeting Friday night, and ended up staying at the campground instead of packing it up and driving to Soap Lake for the fireworks and birthday party. The Girl ended up having a nightmare that involved her Godparents being upset with her for not showing up! Poor baby. I told her they love her no matter what and that everyone knew it was going to be a tough decision for us as to whether or not we would actually make it to the lake. That seemed to make her feel bettter.

Today was our official first day of Summer term. It could have gone better, it couuld have gone worse. I am hoping tomorrow will be better. I have a couple of fun things planned.

I should write a bit more tonight, but my neck and shoulders are very sore- I had a hellacious massage therapy session today, and it is all I can do to type! Oh baby, make it hurt so good!

I will talk to you in more depth tomorrow- I am hitting the pillow now.
TTFN,
LB

Off to the wilderness!

Well, we had a busy day today, with piano lessons, shopping, errands, laundry-folding, training chicken-sitters, etc. The kitchen and living room are clean, the laundry is all done, so I will come home to a clean house. Yay! I wish I had been able to plan our summer school term, but at least that will be all I need to focus on when we get home next week. We are almost ready for our summer vacation. We take off tomorrow for Icycle Creek, near Leavenworth. This is our yearly big early summer camping trip. I think we have between 6 and 8 families coming this year. After a couple days there, we head to Soap Lake in Eastern WA, to celebrate a friend's 40th birthday, which coincides with the town's 4th of July celebration.

Some of the things I hope to enjoy/experience this weekend are in no particular order or correct grammar phrasing:
Fireworks
A birthday party/brunch
the rushing of the river
sitting in the hot sunshine with an icy cool Mike's Hard Lime in my hand (I rarely drink- this is a splurge for me!)
watching kids (and a few foolhardy men) play and swim in the icy river
listening to birds and watching the clouds over the mountains
enjoying the company of good people and laughing a great deal
drawing in my nature journal
eating lots of good food- lots and lots of good food
singing around the campfire

I know there will be more, but right now, I still need to pack up the food and my clothes. I will talk to you soon, off to enjoy the wilderness, my kids (wish me luck on tomato-staking while camping-should be interesting!), good friends, and not having to worry about teaching (much).

TTFN,
LB

Tending my little tomatoes, kids, and chickens

Hi. It is Tuesday evening. Kids are reading and playing piano. They will soon be getting into jammies and brushing teeth. Papa is out weed-wacking the back forty. I am sitting on the front porch listening to the sprinklers, the piano, and the baby wrens in the nest here on the porch. I had a donation sitting on the porch in a brown paper bag, and these adorable little wrens made a nest in there, on top of an old acrylic toilet seat rug-cover-thing. Now there are 5 (that I can see) little peeps in there, and whenever I sneak a peak at them, they all have their little mouths wide open, making lots of hungry peeping noises. Today Sassy Cat got out while we were working in the yard, and knocked the bag over. Girl came running out to me in tears. I set the bag back up, and touching them as little as possible, put the babies back in their comfy spot while the kids found the cat. I watched for a few minutes, and the mama wren (I call her Jenny, after the wren in the Burgess Bird Book) did come back, with a bug in her mouth. She took her own sweet time getting back to the nest- darting here and there to distract any possible predators, but she did go to them and feed them, so I am hoping that means they will all be okay.

Today the kids and I did a lot of yard work. They weed-wacked the back field while I weeded my asparagus bed, and transplanted some lettuce, basil, and pepper plants I got the last time we partied at the B family's home. It has been hot, hot, hot here. We let the chickens out while we were gardening. They are getting so big! About half their adult size now. It is fun to watch them interacting with each other and exploring the yard. The bad thing, is that they like my gardens. They nibble tomato leaves (I thought they were poisonous?), eat my blueberries right off the bush, and poop on my lettuce plants. Sigh. I think I may have to put wire around my gardens. If they eat blueberries and tomato leaves, they will probably try to eat the tomatoes when they ripen. I do have several tiny green tomatoes on the 5 ft tall plants. That is cool!

After the kids sweated and worked hard, we had a nature study class. We drew the trees we have adopted, and hiked up to the little waterfall. Good but sweaty time. Tonight it is much cooler outside than it is inside- much better than last night.

Yesterday morning was not good here. The kids were disobedient and rude. Soooo, we cleaned the kitchen. They scrubbed floors, walls, backsplashes, cupboards, the sink. They washed the table and chairs, and did the dishes at least 4 times. It took all day. In the afternoon, they did music practice. Other than that, all they did was pushups- every time they backsassed me or spoke out of turn. This parenting gig is harder than it looks. I hope I am doing okay.

Well, the piano has stopped, and so has the weedwacker. I best go supervise the tooth brushing, and let the Papa Dude know it is time for Twenty Thousand Leagues.
TTFN,
LB

Aarrgghhhh!!

Remember how proud Iwas of the kids the other day- that they had folded an entire couch-ful of laundry while I was laid up in bed with a bad back? Remember how I positively glowed about how full of integrity they were? Guess where I just found my favorite short kicky summer skirt? Under- that's right, I said UNDER the couch with a whole lot of other clothes.

Sigh. Guess what the kids are doing today? The training never ends, does it.
LB, off to physical therapy and a much needed lunch date with another mom of tweens.

Oops!

Well, I got the quiz to post, but I didn't do something right, cuz I can't link to it. Here (hopefully) is the link to the quiz.
LB

Guess who I am?

You Are Ernie

Playful and childlike, you are everyone's favorite friend - even if your goofy antics get annoying at times. You are usually feeling: Amused - you are very easily entertained You are famous for: Always making people smile. From your silly songs to your wild pranks, you keep things fun. How you life your life: With ease. Life is only difficult when your friends won't play with you!

The Sesame Street Personality Quiz

How did you live today?

Inspired by yesterday's post at Mental Multi-Vitamin, here is what I did today:

I took a long hot soak in the tub. Washed and brushed my hair. Went barefoot all day.

I put a buffalo roast in the crockpot, and a load in the clothes washer.

I listened to my son practice Mozart's Horn concerto, and my daughter play Chopin with such feeling my eyes teared up.

The kids and I all snuggled in my bed together, all reading our own books, and sharing good bits.


I hand-fed and petted my daughter's chickens. I put drops in one of the cats' eye, and played fetch with him.

I took a two hour nap and awoke to find chamomile flowers laid on my nightstand by my daughter.

I snuck two oreo cookies, twisted them open, put the creamy sides together and dunked the double cookie in a mug of rice milk.

I read a challenging book. I looked up two hard words in the dictionary.

I ate popcorn and orange juice in front of a movie with my kids. Afterwards, we discussed the moral integrity of the main characters.

The kids and I met Papa after work at the local Japanese Gardens. We hiked up to the waterfall. I kissed my mate on the bridge over the koi pond.

I opened a can of olives, lovingly bought as a surprise by my husband, to brighten our crockpot dinner.

I called a friend and we made a date for a Mom's only lunch out tomorrow.

I told my children that I loved them. I called my Mama and told her I loved her, too.
I rested, loved, and lived.

What did YOU do today?
LB

Why we don't read "twaddle" here.

Or at least not much. Sure, Calvin and Hobbes and Garfield cartoons come into the house on occassion, and the Boy read Captain Underpants when he was in that potty humour stage at age 7 (which differs not greatly from the potty humour he engaged in at age 10, and again at age 14-seems to come in 3 to 4-yr cycles,lol), but for my part, I have really worked at only bringing classic literature into the house. Here in a nutshell, is why.

From Norms and Nobility by David V. Hicks, pg. 137. Quoted in The Latin Centered Curriculum by Andrew Campbell, pg. 47

"One cannot help but observe the trend in modern schools to substitute light "escape" reading for the more difficult classics. The practice is defended in the name of getting students to read. The assumption is that because students learn to read by reading, schools must provide books that students will want to read, books that will not overtax their patience, their limited vocabulary, or even their more limited intelligence. A corollary to this assumption, as we have seen, is that students cannot enjoy reading serious classics with their demanding styles and remote contents. Clearly, the classical academy rejects this thesis. Not only does it refute the notion that classics are inaccessible or unenjoyable to young readers, but it reminds us that the purpose of learning is discovery, not escape. Substituting the literature of escape for the classics is not education, but an attack on learning; it is not intellectual, but anti-intellectual. It represents a capitulation to the adolescent appetites of our students and our race."

Couldn't have said it better myself!
LB

Hello Friday!

Good morning! I am feeling much better today. I took another vicadin last night and went right out. Sleep really can be a cure-all!
Now on to chores and breaky!
LB

OUCH!!!

I was getting ready to take the Boy to his last day of band this morning, was packing to go to Gramma's afterwords, and making sure the Girl practiced piano for her lesson this afternoon, when all of a sudden my shoulder blade started to seize up and I had terrible muscle spasms so bad I couldn't breathe. The kids helped me to bed, called everyone and cancelled all our plans for the day, fetched me a vicadin and 2 anti-inflamatories, made me drink a full glass of water, and tucked me into bed with my heating pad. They were so gracious about the activities they were missing, and so concerned about me being in pain. They then proceded to fold a couch-ful of laundry, do the dishes we left from last night's supper, made lunch for me and brought it to me on a tray, then do the lunch dishes, read their history, and practice their Latin chants. What amazing children I have! They are playing outside right now. They deserve a little fun.

I feel better- not 100 %, but better. I am not supposed to be on the computer, but sneaking it in while they are outside so they won't tell the Papa-Dude. My laptop now has internet, but other than that, it is bare. I need to get it back to normal, but that can wait. My shoulder feels better, but I am a bit down. So much for 8 weeks of massage therapy, hmmm? I will call the Dr. tomorrow and see what she suggests. Until then, I better get off this thing, and back onto the heating pad. Lucky I have a good book to keep me company- I am reading the Latin Centered Curriculum by Drew Campbell. Check out the site, and his blog. He is one of my daily reads.
TTFN,
LB
P.S. If you talk to the Dude tonight, I was no where near the computer today, okay?! ;-)

Dy, thanks so much for the enjoyable phone visit today- that really helped. I was getting bored.

The ABC's of Me meme

"The ABCs of Me"

Accent - None that I know of, but I have picked up the use of Y'all, and that confuses folks sometimes.

Booze - Well, I am not supposed to drink right now, but things I used to like the taste of include Amaretto, wines, spiced rum with pineapple juice, gin and tonic.

Chore I hate - Cleaning up cat messes- hairball barf or worse-I make the kids do it since the cats are technically theirs.

Dog/cat - 3 wonderful cats, no dogs, but the Girl has 10 chickens.

Essential electronics - My laptop Computer, which currently has no internet, which I miss terribly!

Favorite perfume - Hmmm. I don't wear perfume due to allergies, but I do love Patchouli oil now and again.

Gold/silver - I have a large ring collection, which I never wear, due to arthritis in my fingers, but I love silver. I make lots of beaded jewlly, but give it all away.

Hometown - Tillamook, OR.

Insomnia - Most of the time.

Job title - Homeschool mom.

Kid(s)- One Boy, 14, and one Girl, 11.

Living arrangements - A 1943 Cape Cod style farmhouse on 1/2 acre that has a beautiful yard and lots of gardens, and still needs tons of remodeling inside, but who knows when it will be accomplished!

Most admirable trait - Well, if you need something I am there! I also really try not to gossip about anyone. Harder than it sounds!

Number of countries visited - Hmmm. Germany, Austria, Holland, Ireland, England, Belgium, France, Canada, North America. That makes 9.

Overnight hospital stays - I was in the hospital for nearly 2 months at birth. Just one as an adult, when my thyroid problem and seizure disorder were first being diagnosed. I hated it so much I had both babies at home!

Phobias - Heights, enclosed places, and poisionous bugs or snakes or scorpion-type creepy-crawlies.

Quote - "No matter where you go, there you are." from a fave mug.

Religion - Seeker. Not a *Christian.* Mostly just try to follow the Golden Rule.....

Siblings - 2 half-brothers, 2 half- sisters, and 1 sister.

Time you usually wake - 6:45-ish AM

Unusual talent - Hmmm. I can squish my nose down flat on my face, due to not having the proper amount of cartilidge there.

Vegetable I refuse to eat - None- haven't met one yet I don't like.

Worst habit - Nagging my kids!!!

X-rays - Just had my first mammogram, had some done after the car accident.

Yummy foods I make - Too many to list. I love to cook Indian food. I do seem to be one of those naturally good cooks. I get lots of compliments, and I like it.

Zodiac - Pisces.

I got this from Gerrie at Crazy for Fiber a while back. She does beautiful quilts, if you are interested in that kind of thing.

I won't tag anyone, just let me know if you do it on your blog, or put it in my comments.
LB

You know what they say: Someone else's trash.........

Yesterday while cleaning off the topmost shelves in the 14 yr old Boy's room:

Mama: What's with all these dishes hiding up on this shelf?

Boy: I'll get them.

Mama: Yeah, that's what you said last month when we did this then. What's with the tiny black rocks in this orange cup?

Boy: Noooooooo, not THAT one!! That one has my fake caviar in it!

Mama: Fake Caviar?! What IS it?

Boy: I told you, it's my fake caviar, for when I need to pretend I have caviar.

Mama: You don't even LIKE caviar! What is it in real life?

Boy: Those are pieces of new asphalt road I got at a construction site. PLEASE don't throw them away, please, Mama. I NEED those!!

Mama: But Boy, they don't even look like caviar.

Boy: Yes, they do, if you imagine that they do. When you get them wet, they look just like caviar.

Mama: Sighing, Well, at least put them in a plastic baggie, so I can have my cup back.

Update, and fun at the convention

It has been a busy weekend. I didn't have internet access from Thursday night to Monday, so I just lived life instead of blogging about it, but I will try to do some for you now.

On Sunday, the four of us spent some time visiting Gramma, doing some yard work for/with her, and went to a party at the B family's home. We picked strawberries and rhubarb, and had wonderful crisp made from same. We also enjoyed smoked salmon and oysters (not me, I do not like them!).

On Thursday, we learned a lot about world views, and I had a wonderful philisophical discussion with some wonderful ladies. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and felt so energized by the conversations we had. Self-education can really be delightful.

On Friday and Saturday, the keedunks and I went to The WHO convention. It was a lot of fun and very informative. The kids listened to Jim Weis speak twice (without me- while I was listening to another speaker- and they behaved beautifully! Yay!), and I got some insight into creating homeschooling contracts with tweenagers, and accessing the community a bit more in your homeschool. I saw many people that I knew, and felt very reassured just being in the company of so many families who have made the same decision we have.

I spent a bit of money, but it was all on books for our next history cycle. We will be using History Odyssey for the Ancients time period. I bought as many of the books as I could find there. That way, I won't have to fork it all over in August, rather making the purchase of over $400. in books in increments. Some of the books (I won't link to them, but they are all described at the History Odyssey site.) I purchased were Greek Myths by Olivia Coolidge, Theras and His Town by Caroline Dale Snedeker, The Boys' and Girls' Herodotus by John S. White, and Modern Rhymes about Ancient Times- Ancient Greece, by Susan Altman & Susan Lechner. These are all required reading for one or the other children (and myself) for our ancients history course starting in September. I also have purchased the following books, at my local used curricula store, Homeschool Potpourri. These titles include The Aeneid and The Illiad both translated by Robert Fitzgerald, Plato's Republic and Last Days of Socrates, and The Epic of Gilgamesh by N.K. Sanders. I still have several more books to buy, but this is a goodly chunk of them.

I also purchased a few things from BrimWood Press, by the woman who taught the class on Thursday, and led our discussion that evening. Good stuff. I may write about them later, but in a nutshell, they support our history work.

Today the kids focused on cleaning their rooms thoroughly. It only took all day, and a couple of temper tantrums, but it got done, and they do look much better. Remind me to tell you a story about room-cleaning tomorrow. We will focus on tidying up the house this week, as next week we will be on vacation, and the week following that is the start of our summer term- you know, the one where I have to push them really hard so we can finish our books from this year and start on time in September. I hear-tell from the Principal-dude that he is giving me a teacher inservice day either at the end of this week or the beginning of next so I can prepare for our summer term. I need it!

That at least does it for a re-cap of the weekend. I just wanted to let you know I was still alive- Dy called me today a bit worried as she hadn't heard anything from me in a week! I am here, I am here!
TTFN,
LB

Whirlwind History tour

Today we are off to the East Side very early. We are attending an all day worldview history class writen by the author of and based on this curriculum. Should be lots of fun, and hopefully we will learn something, too! I know I haven't been blogging much about school lately, but we are trying to finish up our study of American history so we can get back to the Ancients this fall. Right now the kids are studying the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and memorizing the Presidents. So this class today should be a nice review of 5000 yrs of history in a nutshell.

Also, very quickly, these are the movies we have watched this week. I am not linking to them, but check them out for yourself. The whole family (and yes, we are exposing our tweens to this stuff!) watched the first three: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Murder by Death, and Papa and I watched Dead Again (Dy, I think you would like this one!) last night. Good stuff.

Gotta go- the Boy is still in bed, dang it. Someone hand me a pitcher of water!
TTFN,
LB

Busy Tuesday and allergies

Allergies! When I woke up this morning, my throat was (IS) so sore it hurts to talk. My eyelids are crunchy and heavy, I can't stop sneezing, my throat and ears itch really badly. Allergies!

We are supposed to have nature study, Redal has both playing tests at band and a horn lesson today. Busy day, and all I want to do is crawl back into bed! Sigh.

Gotta go roust the kids- I can tell they crawled back into bed like I want to, lol. I will try to blog without griping in a little while.
TTFN,
LB

I'm still here

Hey all,
I apologize for not blogging lately. It has been crazy busy the last two weeks, and I am still parenting hot and heavy. I will try to blog a bit more regulary, but to be honest, I find it harder to blog on the old dinosaur in the basement, and really miss having internet on my laptop. It was much easier to blog wherever the kids were, plugging into whatever room I needed to be in, blogging while cooking, doing laudry, and teaching. Now I have to come down here into the dark, dank basement, and leave the kids to their own devices while I work on the computer. It just isn't conducive to free-flowing blogging, but I will try harder to make it a priority.
LB

Update

In fits and starts, in bits and pieces, here is at least the beginning of an update on this week. I will start with last weekend.
We spent Saturday and Monday at Folklife Festival. We took part in more drumming workshops, ate way too much good food, and listened to music from all over the world. We really enjoyed music from many regions of India this year.

On Sunday, Papa worked in the yard all day, the Girl tended to her chickens, the Boy played Legos, and I visited my Mom. It rained and poured hard all day.

We watched several movies this week. Out of six that I picked out, we watched five, and of those five, four were given the thumbs up. We saw Duane Hopwood (Do not waste your time or money on this one- Schwimmer did a good job, but did not portray a sympathetic character- especially if you and your movie date both happen to be adult children of alcoholics. Our only thumbs down vote.), Cassanova (very sweet and romantic telling of the story.), Elizabethtown (Orlando did a great job and Kirsten Dunce was great- what else is she in that I would like?), and Hoodwinked, which was funny and worth a laugh or two. A real beauty of a family movie was The Blue Butterfly, based on a true story. William Hurt did fab, as usual. We also rented Corpse Bride, which we didn't get around to watching. We Girls were willing to watch it, but the Boys vetoed it. Plus, we just plain ran out of time- 6 movies is too many at one time!

Well, I am not nearly done, but we all need to get to bed early tonight, as the Boy has a band concert competition and a field trip after that to Wild Waves. We (yes, I stupidly said yes when his band teacher asked me to chaperone, sigh.) will be gone from 6:45 a.m. until at least 7:00 p.m.. There are supposed to be hundreds of band students at the amusement park tomorrow- I may need a sedative tomorrow night! So, I will sign off now, and check in with you later.
TTFN,
LB

Kids are more important than blogs, but not as much fun right now.

I know I owe you an update of our wonderful weekend, but right now I am busy parenting. Kids are in the middle of teenage angst, and I am in the middle of tomato staking. Sigh. Say a little prayer for me. I will be back to the blogging world as soon as I can. Ugh.
LB

Folklife Festival, day 1

It is 10:30, and the kids and I just walked in the door! After an impromptu visit and chick-drawing session, I had my physical therapy, then the kids and I headed for Folklife. We enjoyed Native American folktales from the Olympic Peninsula (thankfully the storyteller was under a canopy, because it rained hard), Bosnian folkdance, Northern Indian and Southern Indian song and dance, belly dancing (!!), and 2 drumming workshops. We also enjoyed Polynesian chicken kebabs, curly fries, samosas, and 2 rounds of mango lemonade! We shopped a little, and danced and sang. A great evening was had by the three of us. Tomorrow we leave early and take Papa with us! I hope it isn't raining again!

Baby chicks are doing well, and are really getting used to being held.
TTFN,
LB

Baby Chicks Update!

The Girl is so very excited. She has been reading books on chickens for over a month now, learning as much as she can to prepare to be the best chicken caregiver she can. We are still trying to find a big appliance box to be their brooder- until then, they are living in the top of the car-top luggage carrier, lol.

We drove all the way out to Enumclaw, where she ended up purchasing two kinds of Wyandottes- Silver and Golden-laced. Here is a picture of a golden-laced hen, and one of a silver-laced hen. Of course, we are doing our best to call all the chicks "she" and "her" to manifest as many females as possible, but there may be a cock or two in there. That is why we bought 10, when she only really wants 6.

Here also is a picture that the store owner gave the Girl when she saw how interested she was in all the chickens. Girly wants to hang it on her wall.

That is all for now- I need to get them going on lunch, and the Girl needs to practice piano before her lesson today.
TTFN,
LB

I'm here, really!

Sorry for the lack of bloging this week- there seems to be some of that going around- many of my fave blogers haven't had much to say this week. I suspect, that like me, they are busy living life and not as available to write about it!

I will try to catch up later today, but suffice to say, we have been busy buying, tuning up, and licensing a van (yes, Pamela, we found one!), having nature study/art lessons, watching ravens, buying school books, visiting Grandma, cleaning living rooms, house and dog-sitting, having a mammogram, and an after-play cast party where all too much sugar was consumed, quilting, eating, sleeping, headache fighting, etc.

This morning we plan on adding baby chick purchase to the list, so I best be going and will try to update later today.
TTFN,
LB

Yay! I finally got it done!

With the help of Papa and the Girl, I got the last of my seeds in. Planted as of today: cantelope, yellow and green zucchini, yellow crookneck, spaghetti squash, white and orange pumpkins, and lemon cucumbers. yay!

Everything is starting to come up, and much of my root bed needs to be thinned and weeded. Soon.

The Girl is now making fresh lemonade to take to her new piano teacher's recital tonight. The Girl isn't performing, as she just started working with the teacher this week, but it will be fun to go listen to her other students.

TTFN,
LB

Belated Bird of the Month

I know we are 3 weeks into the month, but it has taken me this long to be inspired by a bird this month. I was thinking about making the Robin the BOTM, due to his beautiful singing keeping me company in the garden, but then something amazing happened. We were visited by a raven. I had never seen one before in all my 41 years. He was regal in his sleek, calm way. Very beautiful. Then he visited us again, and then again. So the Raven is now officially the BOTM.

Enjoythe day. I am heading out to the garden.
LB

What I am listening to

My daughter is happy again. She has a new wonderful piano teacher who is driving her hard. And that is just the way my Girly likes it.

I get the wonderful priviledge of listening to her practice Fur Elise, Opus 14 no 2, the first and second movements, all by Beethoven, and the Opus 36 no. 1 by Clementi.

I also get the priviledge of hearing the Mozart Horn Concertos, played on a new mellow-sounding french horn.

Sweet sigh. Life is good, so very good.
LB

Ten things my mother taught me

From Diane over at Circle of Quiet.

Ten things my mother taught me: These are in random order, and it surprises me how many of them she taught me by telling them to me, but not following them herself, and allowing me to see her mistakes. I love my mom. I really do. I am so thankful to have time to spend with her each week. Let me know if you do this.
LB

1. To watch the clouds, and enjoy looking at the sky.

2. How to make use of what you have available.

3. That you can do whatever you set your mind to if you believe in yourself.

4. That smoking is very bad for you, and you should never start.

5. To always be on time for appointments and meetings.

6. That it is important to make time for your art.

7. How to make a bed with hospital corners, and how to fold a fitted sheet neatly.

8. How to enjoy yourself while digging in the dirt.

9. That hate doesn't hurt the person being hated, but eats the hater up from the inside out.

10. How to build a fire, and light it without burning yourself.

What I do

I AM: Short and voluptuous, and like myself that way.

I SAID: Aaaggghhhh! I can't think of anything to write here!

I WANT: The mini-van we are looking at tonight to be "the one".

I WISH: My kids would do their chores on their own with integrity.

I HATE: The word ain't.

I MISS: My friend Shi, and living an hour from NY City.

I FEAR: Climbing the last rickety ladder up to the treehouse.

I HEAR: Water running, the Boy coughing, the computer humming.

I WONDER: Who is William Hung?

I REGRET: Not attending church with my kids on a regular basis.

I DANCE: Every year at Folklife Festival to the marimba music.

I SING: folk songs and nursery rhymes, Jimmy Buffet, and John Prine.

I CRY: At the drop of a hat, and sometimes even when I am happy. Hormones.

I AM NOT ALWAYS: Patient.

I MADE: A salmon leek quiche today.

I WRITE: better than I think I do, but not as well as I would like.

I CONFUSE: My son. A lot.

I NEED: A foot massage and a back rub.

I SHOULD: Do a little quilting tonight.

I START: My day with a long hot bath and a book.

I FINISH: My day kissing my kids once for every year they are old, and saying "Sweet dreams".

I BELIEVE: That my kids have the power to be polite caring grownups someday .

I KNOW: That I can do whatever I set my mind to.

I CAN: write with both hands.

I CAN'T: Roll my tongue or roll my R's.

I SEE: a table full of legos and boxes of books I am supposed to mail to Dy.

I BLOG: Almost every day.

I READ: Children's fiction more than adult.

I AM AROUSED BY: A certain pair of blue eyes giving me "that look".

I FIND: Cat barf with my bare feet at 2 in the morning.

I LIKE: The warm sun on my face.

I LOVE: The sound of my children's laughter.

I got this one from Laney over at Press On. Let me know if you do it, or leave it in my comments.
LB

The Thespian success

The Boy was a huge hit last night in his thespian debut. He ennunciated well enough for his deaf mother to hear him, which was a big deal, so many of the other performers just mumbled their lines, his guestures were good- not too much, not too little, and he kept his French accent all through the play.

The drama instructor from another middle school sought him out after the performance to complimnet him on these things, too. That meant a lot to him. All of our guests, both the Godparents and my friend David, are all involved in theatre, so thier compliments really meant a lot to us.

So now, in addition to all the other things I am trying to provide for the kids, an all year drama course is in there too!

We have food bank deliveries today, but no morning classes for the Boy. I am hoping we actually can get to some schoolwork- with one thing an another, we have done very little over the last two weeks.

I am fighting a headache this morning- I think it is the pollen blowing around, so I am going back to bed for an hour or so. I'll check in with you later.
LB

Break a leg, Boy!

The Boy has his play tonight. They are doing the King's New Clothes. Yeah, I know, it isn't Shakespeare, but the Boy is excited about it, so that is good enough for me.

He will be playing "Guy", the brains of the 3 evil tailor dudes who convince the vain King whose kingdome is crumbling that they can make invisible clothes that only smart people can see. Of course, they want the king to give them the last of his gold for this service.

We have all been helping him read his lines, and listening to him rehearse so much over the last couple of months that if the Boy has any trouble with his lines, the threee of us can shout them out for him from the audience, lol.

His Godparents, and our dear friend L (the one who always takes the kids out for their birthdays and buys them books), and her son David, my cooking buddy will all be there to support him, too. I will be helping out by selling tickets before the show.
Break a leg, Boy!

A side note, my appt. went well this morning, but I will be taking even more meds than I am now. Three different kinds of thyroid. Whew! I went out and bought myself one of those weekly divided pill cases with spots for am and pm. Kinda made me feel old. Anyhow, he thinks my hot flashes, the mystery illnesses in Nov and Feb, and my female troubles are not due to early menopause but to lack of thyroid functioning and impoper meds. We shall see, we shall see.

Gotta go make an early supper and get the Boy ready to go.
TTFN,
LB

Teenage survival mantras

Whose to say whether the following mantras are for my survival or his.
;-)

I can do this.
Breathe.

I love my job. I love my job.
Breathe.

I am peace and inspiration.
Breathe.

I am calm, cool, and collected.
Breathe.

I am cool as a cucumber.
I am a cool lake.

I am an iceberg.
A huge, very cold, freakin' iceberg. Breathe.

I am a glacier. I am cool. I am calm. I am chilled. I am freakin' enormous and I will wear down anything in my path. I am cool. I am calm. (I found it! It was from Poppins, not the Crib Chick, though she helps keep me sane, too! Click here and scoll down to Sept. 21st to read the original post.)

I will not throttle my 14 year old, because that would not be very cool.
And I am cool.
As a cucumber.
Breathe.

Keep repeating any or all of the selected mantras when throughout your day your 14 year old gets whiny, demanding, or downright rude. And as Dy says, "Keep loving him through it."

That's all I got for now- got to hang some wash out before it's time to go to the endocrinologist.
LB

Weekend update

Well, we all made it through the weekend. The birthday party went well, except for one tense moment when a certain Boy we all know and love decided to escalate the water balloon fight by putting red food-colored water in the water balloons. This plan was thankfully discovered before executed, his red hands being the tip-off. Sigh. Can you just see me trying to explain why the guests' white t-shirts (or even worse, their faces!) were covered in red splotches of color?! Reminder to self: The next time we do water balloons, there needs to be a big target down in the field, so balloons are not thrown at people.

Other than that, we had a nice visit with my Mom yesterday, Papa spending most of the time digging up plants to add to his cottage garden. I got more potatoes and tomatoes planted- I now have 36 tomato plants! My goal for today is to get the pumpkin, squash, and cucumbers in the ground. I transplanted some lettuce, too. This is the first time my head lettuce has actually headed up. It looks so cute and yummy at the same time.

Oh- Pamela- he dug up this beautiful sedge plant that would look fabulous near your pond. It likes water. Would you like some of it? We really thought of you when he was digging it up.

While I was planting potatoes, some ants crawled into my kneepads, and bit my knees! Little biters! Ouch!

I was craving Indian food again yesterday, so made a wonderful feast of Rogan Josh, dry cauliflower, cucumber raita, saffron rice, and wonderful lassis made with leftover homemade coconut ice cream from the Boy's party. Yummy good food.

Oh- the Boy is in his final week of play frenzy. They perform for the students today, and then do the evening performance tomorrow night. He will be supported by several friends and loved ones in the audience. Should be great fun. I will get to sell tickets before the show. He is nervous and excited. Break a leg, Boy!

Other than the play, and gardening, and my visit to the endocrinologist tomorrow, the Girl will have her first lesson with her new piano teacher this week. She is very excited to get started. It has been hard for her to work independently these last 6 weeks.

Okay, that's it for now, gotta go hang out the wash- it is supposed to 85 degrees out today- I need to take advantage of that and hang as much wash as I can today.
TTFN,
LB

Where I'm from

I am from the big blue quilt, from Velveeta "cheese" and four-inch thick sandwhiches loaded with MiracleWhip I made for myself after playing outside all afternoon.

I am from the red and white rambler on 75th street; the bedroom I painted purple from whose window I watched the evergreen trees waving in the wind, their branches changing shape in the shadowy moonlit night to look like wolves or flying birds.

I am from the huge thistles we collected from the vacant lot and brought back to Mom to put in a vase, the plum and cherry trees in the back yard whose branches I climbed and whose fruit I consumed.

I am from looking at the night lights of the city and appreciating the clouds in the sky with my Mom; and my little sister and I crinkling up our pug noses when we giggle, from feeding ducks with Gramma Gladys and sitting on her counter eating cinnamon toast while she mopped the kitchen floor on hands and knees, and swinging on the branches of the willow tree, being Cheetah to my brother's Tarzan.

I am from high cheekbones and stick-straight thick hair. From "You are built just like your Gramma." and "You can do anything you want to if you set your mind to it."

I am from Seventh Day Adventists and Methodists; Vacation Bible School, and Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam. From keeping the Sabbath on Saturdays and singing Bible songs with a family of gypsies.

I'm from Tillamook Oregon and the Umatilla tribes of Pendleton, from the Tillamook Cheese Factory and walks to 7-11 with my sister for Slurpees.

From the story of how I was born so many weeks early and wasn't supposed to live, and was small enough to fit in a shoe box, and how I slept for the first year of my life on my mom or dad's chest; from moving the furniture and rolling up the rugs on weekend nights and dancing on top of my dad's feet to Glenn Miller, and getting a lesson from my mom on how to "shimmy" to Elvis or Rockin' Robin.

I am from trips to Oregon to visit my grandparents, from the family pictures displayed on my mother's hallway walls, from playing down the dead-end road with my sister, from traveling to Europe all by myself, from so many children whose nanny or teacher I have been; from meeting my true love at work and trying to memorize the names and birth order of his 9 siblings.

I am from the cabin under the mountain where my first child was born, from the sounds of music wafting through my farmhouse. From the future I know not yet.

Hat tip to Amy, and Dy, and directions for doing one of your own here. If *I* can do it, so can you! Let me know if you do it, or put it in my comments if you don't have a blog.

Just a tidbit for you before I toddle off.

Just found the link to this wonderful blog-article all about reading aloud to children at Circle of Quiet. HT to Diane.
Nighty-night.
LB

I'm feeling much better now.

I really am. My massage therapy went better today, and I made sure I have been drinking tons of water since I got home- makes all the difference in the world. So did not having to listen to country music. Don't get me wrong- I can dig good soulful twang with the best of them, I just hate the stuff they play on the commercial stations. It all sounds like, "My wife left me for my best friend and she took my dog with her." to me. Give me the good ol' sounds of Buffet, or John Prine, or K.D. Lang, maybe some Bonnie Rait.

Anyhoo, I digress. I feel better, and the Boy has been acting better. He spent almost all of his saved up money on grapes, berries, water balloons, rock salt and ice today. Then he folded about 5 loads of laundry, carried all the living room furniture downstairs, vaccuumed, made his own cake, de-stemmed and froze grapes, and did the dishes. He has several of his games ready, and will do the rest of them tomorrow. He did his chores without fussing, and the backtalk was tons less today- almost non-existent. Almost. Baby steps.

The Girl just walked in the door- we let her go to a Tacoma Raniers game with some friends tonight. They won, and there were fireworks. The Boy didn't get to go, obviously, and he didn't fuss about it at all. Maybe it is sinking in after all!?

Now that my baby Girl is home, I am off to bed. I need all the rest I can get if I am going to supervise 10 kids at this party tomorrow. Everyone else is out by the fire ring, visiting and enjoying the cool but clear evening. I will settle for enjoying watching the full moon from the rocking chair set in front of my bedroom window for a few minutes.
Have a good night,
LB

The uphill climb of parenthood

I apologize for not blogging much this week. To be honest, I have had thick, itchy fingers, and have had a grumpy, rude 14 yr old to contend with. Both these things have sucked out much of my newly returning energies. After several doses of grog-inducing antihistamines, and a long, gut-wrenching family meeting last night, I am a bit better, but feeling very tired and worn out. Why oh why did no one tell me about the similarities between children at 2 and 3 years and the same children at 13 to 14 years old. Whew!! Demanding and beligerent, pushing me away one minute, and clingy and full of I-love-you's the next! As Dy would say, Gaaaahhhh!

This morning's chore ritual went much smoother, thankfully, than it has for weeks. We now no longer have seperate chore lists, but instead, all three of us pitch in and do the chores off of one list until they are done, and as they are needed. We have been working towards this for awhile, and it is time. We realize we can not coerce them into being the responsible, kind, and caring people we want them to be, we just hope they choose it. Cooperation works so much better.

The Boy has his birthday party tomorrow, and he is now fully responsible for it. We were very close to taking it away completely, but chose this action instead. I will be taking him shopping after classes today during which time he will use his own money to purchase the remaining items for the party. Then he will come home, rearrange the living room, thoroughly vaccuum and dust it, and then get the games and contests for the party ready. I will most likely have him make his own cake, too, though I might relent on that front. I know parenting isn't easy, but sometimes it is downright difficult. Hard. Challenging. Not fun. Poopy. Sigh.

As well as errand running and birthday party prep, I have my physical therapy today. It really hurt last week, and I am going to have to be an advocate for myself this week- no country music during the massage, thank you very much. And could we please start the massage with me on my stomach, so that if you are going to work on my back, that you are not doing it from the underside of my body? Very uncomfortable, and not nearly as effective. Sigh. I am feeling very small (another Dy-ism) today, and so wish I could crawl into bed and stay there.

Now I shall paste on my happy face, go upstairs, and get on with the day. Wish me luck, and a calm peaceful feeling inside me.
TTFN,
LB

The wonders and perils of nature

Yesterday was a good day. I was productive on many fronts. But I want to start by telling you about nature study. We have been studying water habitats- the oceans/tidepools, marshes,streams, and rivers, and yesterday was ponds. We went to Camp Long, and I did my usual pond study- take all the loups, magnifying glasses, microscopes (Thanks J and L for bringing those!), petri dishes, tupperware containers, nets, and eye droppers you can find, and set the kids loose at the pond. There is an awning set up over two picnic tables a few yards from the pond, so the threee moms set up there, supervising the microscopes, and trying to identify the critters the kids bring to us. The big kids worked well with the two littles, coaching and teaching without even knowing that is what they were doing. We saw whirligig beetles, who are NOT the giant diving beetles, but are related to them; mosquito larvae, water striders, water spiders, and water fleas (L and J- that is what the shrimp-like creature was). We also looked at duckweed, the world's smallest complete plant, and lsitened to red-winged blackbirds. When we were done at the pond, the kids hit the climbing rock while the moms planned the next nature study. This part of the post was about the wonders of nature, obviously. Now on to the perils.

While we were at the pond, I noticed I had a welt on my index finger on my right hand, and that my fingers on that hand were itchy. Then my throat started to feel like it was closing up. Hmmm. Must be reacting to something around here. By last night, my throat and ears were so itchy it was hard to get to sleep. This morning, I had to take an antihistamine- my eyelids are swollen and itchy, my nose is running constantly, and my ears are itchy deep inside. My fingers on my left hand are so swollen, it was a struggle to get my ring off, and there are huge welts on three of them. Hmmmm. What did I find yesterday at the edge of the pond that is so disagreeing with me?!

Oh- Dy, the pies were yummy- very yummy. There is only about 2 pieces left! I may have to make more very soon. I think I am going to try the biscuit dough today, and get a cobbler done. We shall see.

I spent yesterday afternoon doing something other than napping! I do feel like I have more energy lately, and that I am willing to actually do something with it. This is good. I moved furiture around from my room to the living room, and visa versa. I am moving my sewing area to our room, so Papa can start working in the basement, installing the furnace and things like that. I think I may make it a no cats place, too.

Okay, time to roust the Boy and get him to classes.
TTFN,
LB

The ADD gardener

I am still working on where I am from, but I know one thing I am, and that is an ADD gardener. It was a beautiful day out yesterday, not too hot, breezy, with a few sprinkles of fresh rain now and then. I set out with the intentions to get everything planted that I had meant to be planted two weeks ago, but I would start one task, and then flit to another one. I did get the turnips thinned- did I tell you about that? Right after the accident, I wanted to get the seeds in, but could barely lift anything or do anything with my right arm, so I had the kids plant for me. Well, the Boy was fussing and fuming about helping, and lost interest fast. In a nutshell, he scattered two very full packets of turnip seeds in an area about 12 inches by 36 inches. Too funny- that part of the garden looks like a chia pet. A thick, luxurious chia pet. Even after thinning.

I also cleaned up around the compost pile, and around the apple tree. We have this weed that looks like sweet woodruff, only is is sticky, and gets these little round burr-balls on it. I pulled up 3 wheelbarrow loads full of it, as the burrs haven't developed yet. That was good.

I still have punkins, squashes, cukes, and melons to plant. It is my goal to get them all in the ground this week. I also have lots of annual flower seeds Papa wants me to sow for him. We shall see, we shall see.

About 2 pm yesterday, we got a call from the B family- the same ones we are doing the garden project, and from whom we got the railroad ties to build the new garden bed. They were having an "We have too much rhubarb, so come over, the kids will pick it all and make crisps, and then we will take the rest of it to the foodbank" party. So Papa and I took quick showers, and we headed over there and had a wonderful time. That was good. Last night we played UNO again. We have been playing a great deal of UNO this weekend, and it has been lots of fun. We have listened to three Jethro Tull tapes while playing. The kids loved it.

Let's see, what else has been happening during my blogging hiatus that I haven't told you about. Oh- the Boy got a new french horn. It was pricey, but it will last him longer than the cheaper ones we had been looking at. This one should take him through his first year of college. Hopefully we will have it paid off before then, LOL.

The Girl's piano teacher quit at the beginning of April, and we finally found a new one today! She is a board member of the Seattle Music Teacher's Association, so will be able to do the adjudications and competitions with/for the Girl. And, she committed to working with the Girl for at least 4 years. This is a very big deal, and we are very excited. She also has a nine month old, and wants to use me for homeschool consulting, as we charge the same for each of our services per hour, we should be able to barter at least a little bit of our lesson fees that way. Girly is very excited to finally have a new teacher, after a month of working on her own. Yay!

We did a bunch of baking in the last few days, making a huge quadruple batch of banana muffins (we used 13 bananas!), and squash muffins and pies, too. The squash came from this huge football shaped squash they gave us at the foodbank last week when we volunteered. IT was bigger than a watermelon. It baked up nicely, and I pureed about 10 pies' worth. There are two of them on the counter right now. I can't wait to taste them. The squash is a beautiful orange color, and very sweet. I used half the sugar called for in all the baking, and so far, everything has just been delicious. This is more baking in a weekend than I have done in several months, so I feel good about it.

Oh- I think I saw a raven today. Sassy Kitty was sitting in the kitchen window this morning, and doing this funny little chirpy mewing while gazing out the window. I looked out, and saw a huge crow-like bird sitting in a top branch of the plum tree. It was so large, it was bending the branch over! My friend David was over today, keeping me company while I was baking and doing laundry, and he told me he thinks it was a raven, and described them to me. The more I saw crows today, the more I think he was right. How cool is that?!

It's funny, I have was thinking this weekend, that although I like blogging, that I always think there are others who are so much more lyrical, poetic, funny (insert any other adjective here) than I am, and maybe I should just not do it anymore, because the last few entries have seemed like do lists or finished do lists, but so many of you told me you missed it, that I must be doing something right, and you at least find it interesting, so I will keep going, and am glad to be back.

Okay, gotta check the roast and get started on the rest of supper, so that will be all for now.
LB

I'm here!

Did ya' miss me?
My laptop died, and the Papa Dude has ressurrected it, but without internet capabilities. And on top of that, our main internet connection was down, too. But I am here now, typing on the old monstrositity that lives in the unfinished basement. I still do not have email yet, but I seem to be able to be back in Blogland! Whew! If it weren't for Dy's phone calls I may have gone a bit mad. I missed all y'all.

I will post again later today if I can- we now have a fourteen year old Boy in the house, and have been celebrating most of this last week. Today the Godparents are coming over, so I need to help Papa fix a late breaky, wake the kids, and tidy the living room before our guests get here. Glad to be back, and talk to you soon.
TTFN,
LB

Oh what a beautiful morning!

Hey all,
Spring has finally sprung here in Washington, in all it's rain-free glory! The trees are such an incredible shade of yellow-green, and full of blossoms! In our yard alone, I am watching my pear, apple, and crab-apple sporting beautiful blooms. The lilacs are also blooming. I want to cut some to bring in today.
In addition to our weekend Gramma-comes-over-and-cleans-my-house-in-2-hours-flat-after-which-I-am-comotose-for-an-additional-2-hours-visit, we finished the new garden bed. I planted some basil, 4 packets of peas (I know, it's late, but better late than never!), a row of potatoes, and 20 tomatoes. I want to get an additional 20 tomato plants in this week. I also rescued a bulb fennel from the next door neighbor (and we had her over for supper last night so she could taste it- that was fun!). Papa and I ran to Dread Meyer's yesterday evening and came home with about 20 packets of seeds, so I will try to get them planted this week as well.

It is another busy week, with Dr's appt.s for both my Mom, and myself, horn lessons, play rehearsals, and such. We are also getting ready for our Spring Garden Pary and the Boy's 14th birthday this weekend. So, onwards and upwards, I have things to do!
TTFN,
LB

Friday Five

Here is today's Friday Five, from Donna at Quiet Life.

1. Five minutes to yourself: how would you spend them, ideally?
Quilting.

2. Five bucks to spend right now: how would you spend it?
Buy a quilting magazine.

3. Five items in your house you could part with, right now, that you hadn't thought of already?
Dead vaccuum, dead tv, old shoes that hurt my feet, ummmm, that's all I can come up with.

4. Five items you absolutely, positively could never part with in your house?
Photos
My Hull vase collection
the chunky little clay things the Boy made when he was a little tyke.
the mosaic turtle table and the wooden box that my dh made for me as anniversary gifts.

5. Five words you love?
far out, groovy, cool,
I know that sometimes I just love the way a certain word rolls off the tongue, but I can't think of any right now!

Leave your answers in the comment box- see you there!
LB

Friday

Well, we didn't get to Gramma's yesterday, instead we spent it at the Doctor's office- again. The Girl was on day 5 of a fairly high fever yesterday, so he wanted to see her. He doesn't think it was antibacterial, but you do start worrying when a fever lasts that long. So far, so good this morning, though. Although her skin felt a bit hot to me, her temp is normal. Keeping my fingers crossed that it stays that way.

He also looked at the Boy again, specifically his joints. THe bloodwork he did came out normal, but he is still concerned that Boy is still in pain, and is taking Ibuprofin 3X a day. He is recommending we get him to a pediatric rheumatologist, and spent a few minutes warning me of the hoops we were going to have to jump through in order to find/see one. At least he sees that something is up, and is committed to working to find an answer.

Today, I need to get over to the Optician's to pick up my new glasses. Not sure what else we will do.

TTFN,
LB

Gramma cheering day, I hope.

Well, the Girl has been fighting a fever for 3 days now, but other than the cold symptoms we all have, she seems ok.

Today we will head over to Gramma's. She can crash on her couch for awhile today for a little variety. She is sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Gramma is very depressed today. She tried to garden yesterday, and couldn't. The lady from the CSB told us she has many clients who still garden, so I am wondering if this sadness can be dispelled somehow.

Anyhow, got to run- get them up and fed, and then over to Gramma's at a reasonable time, so we can come home in time for the BOy to go to play rehearsal at school- oh yeah- I forced him to go to school yesterday, only to find that they are doing the WASL. So I had to sit in the office while they found the excemption form for me to fill out. Man, was everyone looking at me funny for doing that!

OK, sorry this is sparse, gotta get a move on. Happy day to you,
LB

Phooey!

Phooey! I made a point to get up early, even though the kids were sleeping late due to being sick, I even shaved my legs! Papa stayed home with the kids, I got to my appt. 20 minutes early, only to find that my appt. is NEXT WEEK. Sigh. I am working really hard at not feeling like a complete and total idiot. Oh well, I guess I can choose to look at it in a positive fashion: Papa got to have a quiet morning, enjoyed cooking breakfast for his kids, and I now have a little more time to get things done, in addition to putting my PAP off till next week.

Now I am off to face the day- seed-planting, laundry-folding, bill-paying, and hopefully some reading aloud and snuggling on the couch.
TTFN,
LB

Simple Pleasures

Donna over at Quiet Life (Is Blogger only acting up for me, or is it being wierd for others too? Again today I can't link!) is asking today for 10 simple pleasures. In my somewhat wordy way, here are mine.

1. Laying in bed watching and listening to the birds in the birch tree outside my bedroom window.

2. The feel of an old person's skin- like a rose petal.

3. Sitting in a rocker, snuggling a warm, sleepy baby.

4. Settling into the spoon position, that moment when I skootch my hiney up next to my man as I am sinking down into warm flannel sheets, ready for sleep.

5. Hugs, kisses, and I love you's from my babies, even though they aren't babies anymore.

6. Being in nature, sharing it with my child-friends, showing them the joy of flowers of every shape, size, and color.

7. smiles and butterfly kisses

8. kitty cats- when they are sleeping on my fresh laundry, or drinking from my bathwater, or chasing my toes, or........ being kitty cats.

9. Singing with my babies, or hearing them sing.

10. Reading blogs.

I find it reassuring and joyful that I found it hard to stop at just ten. I look forward to reading your 10 simple pleasures in my comment box- that will be #11 for me!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am headed to the Dr's this morning- yes, again. Papa stayed home for the morning, he is out getting coffee, but will return shortly, to watch over the sick kids while I am gone. Girly still has a fever (or should I say has one again), and the Boy still has a very sore throat and stuffy nose.

I slept last night, with very little coughing, thankfully. The sun is shining, and for that I am grateful. I hope to get those seeds into the ground this afternoon. We shall see what the day holds. Hope yours is great.
LB

update

The kids are sitting in front of Sesame Street- yes, you read that correctly. I can sure tell they don't feel well.
The Girl has a fever of 102, and rising. Phooey.
I read a few chapters of George Washington's World to them, before my throat gave out. I need to do dishes, fold some laundry, and try to get outside to plant those seeds......
LB

Error report

Sorry about lack of italicization on the Book title, and no link to explain the Easter Pig- Blogger is acting up and won't let me do those two things.
I will do a whole post of The Easter Pig soon, but need to tend to sick kids at the moment. If your interest is peaked however, see if they have the book on Amazon.
LB

A productive and happy Easter report

Well, it was a productive weekend on many fronts.
Early on Saturday, the Papa Dude and I drove up to Gramma's in the rental car. He drove Gramma's little Toyota home, and I drove Gramma and her vaccuum home in the rental. Then he returned the rental car, and turned the new garden bed in the pouring rain while Gramma, the kids and I went to town on the house. While the kids worked on cleaning their rooms enough that they could vaccuum (and they did it without fussing! Yay!), we cleaned and vaccuumed the living room, kitchen, and our bedroom. Gramma made sure the dishes were done, and that as much laundry as possible was folded and put away. My room looks so nice and clean! I love it when my mama comes down!

I try not to feel bad about the fact that my blind 75 yr old mother can get more done in a 5 hour period than I do in a week. I have to remember that for this week has been a tough one, what with 7, count em, 7! Dr.'s appointments, and 2 visits to Mom's, and the fact that for much of the week I had a cold, and was unable to use my right arm. But for some reason, there is a little part of me that wishes I was able to accomplish everything I set out to do. Oh well, best let that one go.
Helping me gives my Mom a focus other than her blindness, and helps her to feel useful.

Most of the time Mom was here, I was feeling bad for spreading germs- I was hacking and coughing so badly all Saturday. I swear, that lady ran circles around me!

When we were done cleaning, Mom and I ran a couple errands, and I took her home, then ran to the store to buy several dozen eggs.

We didn't get around to decorating eggs till 9 that evening, but the kids had a great time and were reminded again how much they love using my cake decorating colors to dye eggs- they come out in brilliant bright colors (yes, i took pics on the digital, but I still haven't learned how to load them to the computer- maybe this week?). I fell into bed, but again, spent most of the night hacking, sneezing and wheezing.

Sunday, the kids mercifully didn't wake us till about 8:30, at which time they came up, bearing lovely Easter baskets for all of us. We spent an enjoyable 30 minutes admiring the Easter Bunny's gift choices. Faves this year were the plastic eggs filled not with jelly beans, but with 250 water balloons (a stroke of brilliance on the E.B.'s part), squishy egg- shaped pillows, bubbles, rulers,stickers and pencils, and Legos. THe Easter Pig visited as well this year, bringing very pretty amethyst points.

After the kids examined their loot, they snuggled in with us, while I told them the story of Jesus crucifixion and resurrection (as close as we get to the church-going part of Easter in this house), while Papa fixed us a nice breakfast. They did their chores while we hid eggs in the cottage garden, and then they found them. Then they hid them for us, and so on and so forth for a couple of hours, till most of the eggs were cracked, and there we only enough undamaged eggs left to make a huge bowl of egg salad. Tweens or no, these two still very much love Easter Egg hunts!!

The rest of a cool but sunny Sunday was spent in the garden. My arm is still not working as well as usual, so I mostly functioned as foreman, telling the kids where to plant what. With all of us working together, we moved the asparagus to its new bed, planted 3 types of lettuces, chard, spinach, bok choy, 2 kinds of carrots, beets, turnips, parsnips, cumin, and several herbs. There is still room in the root bed for a couple more rows of something, too.

Still left is planting the new bed Papa built- I will need to get tomatoes, potatoes, and peas in there this week.

I soaked the morning glory seeds, and will get those planted hopefully today. Papa dug up more space in the cottage garden (nearly our entire front yard) and I will be filling the entire fence line with many vining flowers.

Once the planting was done, the kids played the afternoon away while I rested, and Papa weeded. I made us a beautiful Easter dinner of ham, roasted brussel sprouts, mashed potatoes, and salad. Then baths and stories. We have started a new bedtime read, called The King in the Window. Very fun so far.

As for this morning, when I went to wake the Girl, she felt hot, and said her throat was sore. She is still sleeping. The Boy showered and fed the cats, but is taking funny due to a sore throat and stuffy nose. He won't be blowing a horn today, I can tell you, so I sent him back to bed, too. It would be a good day to snuggle and read aloud, but I have no voice. Hmmm. We shall see.

I have to head back over to Mom's today, she has an appt. with her Dr. today, that my older sister and I will be attending with her. I will tell you about it later, not sure how it will go. But for now, I am off to call the school and excuse the Boy for morning classes, and feel and kiss a couple of forheads.

TTFN,
LB

Good Friday Morning to Ya.

Good Morning.

Today promises to be just as busy a day as I have had all the rest of this week. I need to get over to my mom's as early as possible today, to start dealing with getting her car legal and drivable. First stop will be Dept. of licensing, to get a trip pass, so I can drive it to the mechanics. Once it has had a tuneup (I am hoping that's all it will take), I will drive it to emissions. Probably won't get to that point today.

The CSB lady comes back out to mom's today, to finish marking her appliances, so she can "see" them with her fingers better. Not sure if I will stay for that or not. There is an HSA planning meeting in Renton today, I would like to go to that, but it is at the same time as Mom's meeting. We shall see. It is raining today, not sure what fun thing we could do today, but maybe we can figure out something. It is good to find something fun to do in between all the errands. Keeps the kids a bit happier.

I am tired again this morning, another sleepless night. It is always so hard to sleep with a cold- if the coughing doesn't keep me awake, the sneezing and nose-blowing does. But that's ok, it's just a cold, and I am alive, and that is good.

The Girl just got out of the shower, so I best go wake the Boy, and get the kids going on their chores, so we can get out of here early.
TTFN,
LB

Day of rest, maybe?

Hey all (three of you),

We had another whirlwind day yesterday, but got quite a bit accomplished. After my little nap, we headed out to the eye Dr.'s, and spent a pleasant 1.5 hours there, where my kids were spokespersons for the polite, well-adjusted, poetry-memorizing, latin-chanting homeschooled child club. Thankfully, they were on their best behavior, which made it easier on me. My eye exam took over an hour- not because there were any problems, but because the optician has a 4 yr old daughter in Montessori preschool, who is bright and precocious, and needs more. I gave her my usual "Read the WTM and call me to talk about it when you are finished." speech. She was fascinated by the idea of homeschooling, and we talked a great deal about it's benefits. We shall see if she calls me- I am always surprised which people do, and which don't. I do enjoy consulting "newbies", so hope she does.

We were supposed to go the food bank today, where I would cook lunch for the volunteers while the kids worked the food line, but I now have a full-blown cold, complete with a cough that Dy says sounds like a baby seal, lol. I am also experiencing pain in my shoulder blade. As much as I feel like crawling back in bed and sleeping the day away, I think I will be calling the massage therapy office at 9:00 to try to schedule an appt. asap. Maybe they won't have an opening till this afternoon, so I could sleep a bit before that. I need some rest. The Boy is also still having pain in his joints and spine, so the rest won't hurt him either. He is taking a lot of Ibuprofin this week, which I don't really like, but it does seem to help the inflammation. Let's hope his bloodwork reveals something.

On a quilting note, I got all the 5 inch pastel squares cut out, and laid them out on my bed last night while talking to Dy, but to be honest, they look really boring. Only light values, the softest dinner mint colors. It just looks so boring- why do fabric designers think babies (or their mamas, for that matter) will like pastel mint colors? I only picked them for the shortcut of having precut squares, thinking I could whip out the top, and just tie it, and be able to mail it out quickly. But noooo, it now doesn't seem worth it, and it isn't so easy. I am not one to work with boring fabrics. I like my quilts to "pop" cheerfully, especially for the wee ones. I went down to the basement, and checked out the "fabric wall". I have so many bright, wild novelty fabrics...... maybe I can use them to liven up the pastels, or go ahead and do the boring pastel squares on one side, and do something more arty and bright for the front side. Hmmm........

Okay, best be getting off this thing, don't want to stress my arm/shoulder out any more than it is. The Girl and Boy are taking turns reading The People Could Fly, the Black American Folk Tales book we have been reading at breakfast. They are doing a good job reading the dialect with a proper southern accent, lol.

TTFN,
LB

Nap time

Well, I made it to the Dr.s appt. today- I like this new place- everything is all in the same building, whether it is a rheumatologist, and endocrinologist, or a primary care physician. It is not a bad drive, and there is a parking garage. Makes it easy.

I think I am going to like this Dr. For one thing, she is a she, and I think that alone helps. I have an appt. for next week for a general physical, and to start the ball rolling on the thyroid/menopause issues. She also suggested I go with a different endocrinologist, in order to get in to see one before the middle of May (read: before I kill myself or someone else in my family due to my chronic irritability,lol.). She recommended chiropractic and massage therapy, and we found one that is not too far of a drive from my house. Yay! I haven't been had a massage or been to the chiro in over 5 yrs, and I am way overdue. Good thing is that Allstate will be picking up the whole tab.

I have an appt for an eye exam and to pick out new frames today at 3:30. Right now, the kids are outside playing. They did some history reading and got their music practice out of the way while I was gone this morning, so I am letting them play. I am off to take a nap- I have a cough to go with my sore throat now, and my arm is throbbing a bit, so I am going to get some rest before I have to drive again in rush hour traffic, while listening to Latin chants (rental car has a CD player- kids think this is way cool).

There is a roast in the crockpot, and a bowl of chopped carrots, onions, celery and mushrooms in the fridge. I will throw them in before we leave. Oh- I cut a bunch of squares out of the pastel fabrics I bought the other day, maybe tonight I can lay them out. I'd do it now, but I am too pooped. Yawn.

TTFN,
LB

Bird of the month

I have decided the bird of the month for April will be the Black capped Chickadee. I have been hearing these sweet little birds for the last two weeks, so this is fitting.
LB

Tuesday Ramblings, journal style.

Just a quick note about yesterday: We went to Grandma's to support her at her Community Services for the Blind (hereafter CSB) home evaluation, which went well, and we also stopped at the park for a bit, where we saw a red winged blackbird, and a pair of Peregrine Falcons. That was cool.

I also self-medicated at the fabric store. I succumbed to a sweet set of 5-inch coordinated pastel fabric squares that I think will make an adorable baby quilt for some little baby girl I know in Alabama, if I can just get my butt in gear and sew them together. Did you know that buying fabric makes having hives bearable? I am sure it cures a bunch of other ills as well, lol.

We also rented a bunch of movies this weekend. So far, we have watched Narnia (twice!), Legend of Zorro (the more I see of him, the more I like Antonia Banderas, and Catherine Zeta Jones didn’t do too bad a job, except for the sword-fighting scenes. The story was good, and the drinking, smoking horse was hilarious!), and the original Odd Couple. I thought I was going to laugh myself to death when Oscar (Walter Mathau sp?) was crying to Felix at the end. He was slobby, but was so sweet to everyone he knew- very endearing, especially if you have seen my Oscar-like tendencies when it comes to keeping house, lol. I am much more an Oscar than a Felix, though I do have my moments. We still have Batman Begins to watch.

For Tuesday: Well, we are home for the day, and what a day it was. I only had a few minor panic attacks while behind the wheel today- every time someone came speeding up behind me, or tailgated me. I am wondering how long that will last. I have never liked driving much, but now, it is all I can do to get behind the wheel, and today, I was behind the wheel a great deal!! Luckily, the rental car is easy to drive one-handed. My right arm feels better every day, but I am sure I pulled a muscle in it, as I can't hold anything, stretch it out, or raise it much.

First we headed over to our old neighborhood and hit Dr. Marty's office, where he pronounced the Girl to be totally healthy. Yay! I still insisted that he write a referral for her to have X-rays, just so we have a baseline in case anything goes wrong in the future. Then he checked over the Boy, who has been having spasms in his back, and joint pain. His ankle appears to be sprained (when did THAT happen?!), and his knees and elbows are swollen. Hmmmm. This has been going on for a few months, and Papa and I are getting concerned (but don't tell the Boy, ok?). He recommended blood draws to check Boy's thyroid, and to check for arthritis related issues. Basically the same tests I had run last month.

We headed for the lab, but they were closed till 1:15, so we went to our old Fish and Chips hangout, hugged the old-timers, and OFWITWW (Our favorite waitress in the whole world), got some fish, and saw some goslings out for a stroll with their parents. Some were tiny babies, and some were almost full grown, and some were in the middle. They were all cute and fluffy, and made the kids giggle.

Then back to the lab, where I held the Boy's hand while his blood was drawn. Luckily, he had the nice Philipino lady who can draw blood from my spaghetti veins the first try. She was sweet, and gave him a lolly, which at one point, when I looked in the rear-view mirror while driving, I saw he had stuck to his forehead. Is it just me, or do almost 14 yr old boys resemble almost 4 yr old boys?

Then back into the car, where on the drive to the x-ray lab I explained to the Girl what was going to happen there. She aced it, did great. No vomiting or anything! (Remember how gut reactive she is, and you will know how brave she was!)

Then to the impound lot, to get the last of our belongings out of Whitey. The impound lot was a scary-looking place, with a real skanky feel to it. Eeww. The man who escorted me out to Whitey (may he rest in peace) and back was kind and polite, though. After that, I stopped by Starbuck's and got myself one of those big, cold green tea drinks, which I never let myself have because of the dairy content, and savored the way it felt on my sore throat (I woke up yesterday with a sore throat, I hope it isn't a cold, but feels like it).

One more stop to pick up some meat for supper (baked orange chicken legs and thighs, brown rice, squash, and salad), and then home! The phone rang as I opened the door, and it was Dy. Just hearing her voice cheered me. It was good to visit with her, and hear all the fun they are having with their visiting relatives. It also makes me want to go visit her soon! I am seriously thinking about November in Alabama.

Tomorrow, I have my first appt with my new primary care Dr. I will be getting X-rays, too, and am going to ask for a referral to a chiropractor and a massage therapist. Haven't had chiro or a massage in over 5 yrs and need it badly. I may also try to fit in a trip to my optometrist (sp?) to replace my glasses, which were mangled badly in the accident. I haven't had new ones in almost 10 years, I may pick some funky frames this time around. Tortoise-shell cat-eyes, maybe?

Schoolwork? Nope, just reading in the car. Sigh. So much for this being a catch-up week. I can't wait till July, when we have much less on our daily docket, and can hopefully get some work done!!

We just finished supper, and the Boy is practicing horn, the Girl finishing the dishes, then she will do piano, and the Papa Dude is upstairs practicing his guitar. I am going to brave the depths of the basement to get my cutter and mat, then we will all congregate on our bed upstairs to either read or watch the last movie.

Okay, I know this is probably boring, and reads like a journal entry, but that is all I am capable of today. Very emotionally taxing, all the way around.

TTFN, LB

Tuesday morning and all is well.

Thanks to all of you for your kind thoughts and well wishes. We are well, but for some reason, blogging isn't coming easily to me. I will try to write later. We have a slew of Dr.s appt.s this week, getting the Girl and I x-rays, and I need new glasses. We also need to go to the impound lot and get a couple of things out of Whitey, before he goes off to minivan heaven. That should be stressful.
I will try to write later, and see Dave, it isn't just you who sometimes can't write.
LB

Alive to tell about it

Well, there is nothing like a near death experience to make you grateful for your life, just the way it is.

The Girl and I were involved in a hit and run accident today. We were rear-ended, and pushed into a guard rail, and then into a tree. Thank goodness the tree was there, and yes, I thanked the tree for saving us.

The police and fire department (It was our local dept.- the ones we take cookies to every Christmas eve- that part was cool.) came, and took good care of us. The Girl is curled up in one of their warm wool blankets right now. When I return it, I will bring them more cookies, I think. They hugged us, checked Girly from head to toe, they even carried her to the car. They were just as kind and considerate as could be. And as the Girl and I told the Boys, they were all very handsome. Why that helped, I don't know, but both she and I were drawn in by intense smiling blue eyes that took our minds off our situation and made us feel better.

Poor Whitey the mini-van didn't fare nearly as well. He is totaled. He did his job, and thanks to Whitey, the fact that the Girl was in the back seat, and not the front, and that we were both in seat belts, we are alive. All the officers there told me repeatedly that if we were in any other vehicle, we probably wouldn't be here. If they told us that once, they told us ten times. Believe me, I heard it!

I will now have to deal with insurance, and rental cars, etc. while the police look for a truck with a big huge dent in the front of it. Sigh. How could he just have driven off like that? It boggles the mind.

That's about all I can write for now. The Girl is sleeping, bless her little heart, and I am going to go lay next to her some more. It comforts me.
LB

Update: It is now 8:30, and we are well. Baby Girl and I are tucked up in blankets on the couch, watching Find! while we wait for Mystery to come on. We have both taken anit-inflamatories, I have been in touch with the insurance company, and tomorrow we will be able to get a rental car. I also called my Mama and let her know what happened, and she said if I license it, get it tuned up, and do the emissions stuff on it, that we can use her car after the rental car is gone. Since she has gone completely blind, her car has just been sitting in her carport. That is very good news.

Boy is being really nice to me- I think he may have had a bit of an awakening today when he saw the car and realized we had been in it! He was such a helpful young man, getting our stuff out of the car without being asked, holding his sister, and even trying to cook dinner for us tonight. He and Papa just walked down to the 7-11 store to fetch us some treats.

Okay, that is all, going to snuggle with my big baby Girl and continue to be grateful for life, for EMT's with blue eyes, for airbags, and for a family that loves me. All is well.
LB

What kind of homeschooler are you, anyway?!

Here is a fun quiz: What Kind of Homeschooler are you? I will tell you my results in the comment area. Frankly, it surprised me. Let me know if you take it and what your results were.
LB

Homeschooling tidbit.

We now interrupt this blog with a bit of homeschooling information:
I was traipsing around Blogland, and found this simple overview of how to implement a Charlotte Mason education over at Mungo's place.
TTFN,
LB

You know you are getting older when they call you ma'am.

Okay, okay, when did it happen? When, I ask you? When did I become a "Ma'am" instead of a "Miss". I don't feel like a Ma'am, but I look like one. I am not a very vain person, never have been, but am just enough that this bothers me, if I let it. I mean, I say, "Yes, ma'am" to my mom, my elders. Now I am an elder?? Sigh.

Hey, Dave and Dy, I learned how to take pictures with my video camera yesterday. Maybe today I will have some time to figure out how to load them onto my laptop.

I didn't get any gardening done yesterday morning, because I was on the phone for an hour and a half with my sister in law. She is the painter lady, and will come over Sunday, to help me figure out the best ways to prep these plaster walls before I paint. I will have to take pictures of the bright (not) decorating idea someone had for the kitchen. They put these fake tiles (I think they are linoleum) all over two walls. I pried one off this weekend, and all the paint peeled off right down to the plaster. So I need Painter Lady to tell me how to fix that- how to best prep the plaster for painting.

As my kids read my blog, I will now get a little cryptic. Last night, I spent an hour and a half in Dread Meyer shopping for a certain upcoming holiday involving eggs and rabbits. Up until this year, my mom has always done the shopping for this particular holiday, so it was new for me, and I think I really overspent. And yes, I do have to be hush hush about it, because even my almost fourteen-year old still believes in such things. Amazing, hmm?

Today, we have a field trip to the UW to watch a group of Irish Dancers, and then to head to a museum. We will be riding with a group of kids/moms that we don't know. Should be interesting. I am hoping I can get into the garden this afternoon, as it is supposed to rain all weekend.

Okay, I am off to wake one kid, get the other one out of the shower, get ready to read (still reading the Black American Folk Tales), and then make breakfast. Have a great day, all.
LB

Random Wednesday evening thoughts

Hey there, friends.
Sorry I haven't posted much in the last two days, I was kinda fighting a bit of depression and apathy. I seem to have come out of it a bit today, and am feeling pretty good at the moment. I refuse to even write about yesterday, I was irritable, the Boy was a typical teenager, and it was not a smooth or good day. So here is today, which went a bit better, in no particular order.

It has been really hard for me to wake up these last two mornings. I have spent most of the day feeling exhausted. Papa is complaining of the same thing, so I think we may be fighting some flu bug. The Boy is doing horn practice right now, the Papa Dude is practicing his guitar, trying to work up his blisters (he so loves it, Dave!), and the Girl is doing the dinner dishes. After that, I will try to finish the last two chapters of Drifthouse, and we will all turn in early.

It took us over two hours to do our food bank deliveries today, and we only had eight to do. We had some troubles getting into one of the apartment buildings, but we managed. It is good for the kids to see me do some real life problem-solving (i.e. going next door to the barber shop and asking any of the men in there if they had keys. 3 of the 4 men in the shop did, so we lucked out.). The folks at the food bank sent us home with some lovely salmon steaks that I am sure we will enjoy later this week. The folks who work there are so warm and wonderful. I have a date with them next Thursday, to cook lunch for all the workers. Guess what they want me to cook? Go on, guess. Yep. Indian food, especially eggplant, lol.

After that, I spent most of the afternoon reading and doing laundry. Now there is a ton of it ready to be folded. Anyhow, I haven't been spending time with the Count of Monte Cristo like I probably should be, but rather have been enjoying some mind candy in the form of a couple of Elm Creek Quilts books. I am in the middle of The Sugar Camp Quilt right now. Sometimes candy is good for the soul. I let the kids be (or not) be their own integrity, and they spent the whole afternoon in their rooms, doing (or not) their schoolwork.

I did make it outside late this afternoon, after putting a meatloaf and some baked potatoes in the oven. In the time it took for them to cook, I worked up half of what will be the root garden. If I spend even more time out tomorrow, I could probably have the whole thing turned and planted. I think tomorrow I will have the kids come outside and help me garden. That kind of work is just as important as schoolwork, right? I have so much gardening to do, and this month-long period of apathy hasn't helped me get any of it done. Time to just function and be what I want to be, regardless of how I feel. That is if I want to see anything growing in my gardens this summer, or get any quilting done!

In the short time I was outside, I was serenaded by a robin, who sat in the top of the newly budding birch tree. I also saw several chickadees, and one of them even visited the bird feeder that Papa and the kids hung in the apple tree this weekend. Cool!

Oh, that reminds me that I need to post a new "Bird of the month" photo. I will try to do that tomorrow. I was thinking of heading up to my mom's tomorrow, I know she would love to see me, and the kids are aching to play with their cousins, but I would really like to stay home and garden. We shall see.

Well, that's about it for today. There are questions I was supposed to answer, and Diane wanted me to talk about my fave Indian recipes, but I am poopin' out here, so will sign off, and crawl into flannel jammies and get ready to read. My fave ol' ratty quilt is waiting for me in the big rocking chair, Papa will light the oil lamp for me, the kids will have brushed and flossed, and I will get to practice my reading voices- a french pirate, a sophisticated parrot, a mermaid, and an octopus-like mermaid queen-witch. If that peeks your interest, check out the book Drifthouse. I am tellin' ya', it is a fun story.

May you get lots of rest tonight, and I wil see you tomorrow.
TTFN,
LB

Cute and giggly

I am not awake yet, so will post later, but for now, check this link out. How can ya' not be smiling after this? Found this one over at Forward Motion. Thanks for the giggle, Becca.
LB

Tide Pools and digital cameras

Well, here it is, Monday morning. I am feeling very tired today, didn't rest well last night, but I do feel like we got tons of work done this weekend. Papa and the Boy got the garden wall mostly done, and some steps built, bird feeders up in the trees, and hauled 3 loads of manure.

My mom, the Girl, and I washed all the walls/appliance fronts/cupboards in the kitchen, mopped the kitchen floor, dusted and vaccuumed the living room, scraped/washed the paint dribbles off 3/4 of the living room floor (they must have not masked when they painted, there was a rim of white paint and splatters along all four edges of the room), kept the laundry going all weekend.

The only bad part of my mom's visit was the last five minutes of it, when she was carrying the vaccuum out to the car ( I tried to get her to let me carry it, honestly I did) and tripped, twisting her ankle. It is okay today, a bit swollen, but not painful, but it scared Papa and I, and it really hurt when she did it.

This morning, after putting a meal in the crock pot, my goal will be to figure out how to use my new (to me) digital camera. I have had it a month now, and haven't really touched it, due to March being the month of apathy and all. So many things that I want to post pics of, it will be hard to know where to start! I guess I will also have to learn how to post them, in addition to taking them and putting them on the computer, too.

This afternoon, we have nature study- there is a low tide today, and we are beginning our study of water- oceans, tide pools, ponds, rivers, etc. It is threatening to rain, I hope it just holds off for a bit. This is a lesson I have taught before, and am looking forward to teaching it again today. Maybe I will be able to take pics! I am usually very busy when teaching, but I will try.

Best be off, need to get moving, although to be honest, I'd like to crawl back into bed for another hour. Time change be damned! It always takes me so long to adjust!

TTFN,
LB

Saturday night

I snuck upstairs to write a bit. All is well here. Gramma and I have been sharing a bottle of wine, and we are feeling no pain. She is spending the night, so we can keep going tomorrow. She has been scraping paint off the living room floor (hardwood) all day, in addition to folding laundry, and doing dishes. I have washed half the kitchen walls. The Girl has been helping us all day, and is now playing piano for Gramma- who is probably a bigger fan than I am.

The Papa Dude and the Boy are outside building the new garden bed. They got 2 trailerloads of horse doo and will go back for more tomorrow. THis stuff is so rich and nicely composted- it will be great for the garden.

All is well here in my little world, and it feels nice.
TTFN,
LB

Uh Oh, I am in big trouble

If you promise your mother that your husband will show up at her door at 9:30 am to pick her up so she can come down and do a thorough cleaning job on your living room and kitchen (cuz she is so bored at her house that it is sparkling clean and needs to start on someone else's), you better be ready for her to be very angry when you call her at what you think is 10:30 to say that your husband is having trouble with the trailer and the horse doo, and will be there as soon as he can, and she tells you it is almost NOON and you are ALWAYS LATE (not true- I am one of those people for whom 10 minutes early is on time), and she is VERY BORED waiting and now we are never going to get the house cleaned, and you better not EVER do this to her again.

Sigh. I hate it when my mama gets mad at me. 41 yrs old, and I still hate it. Sigh.
LB

Updated an hour later to say that I think Gramma thought we were supposed to turn our clocks forward last night (though I am not telling her she was wrong, now way, un uh) instead of tonight, so that explains that. She is now happily attacking invisible (to her blind eyes) spider webs with gusto, and is happy as a clam. Whew!!!!

April Fool's Day

As usual on a Saturday morning, the Boy was still in bed while the other three of us were already dressed, up, and functioning (well, as functioning as I am, sitting in my recliner blogging). I told Papa that the Boy had said he wanted to play tricks on us today as it is April Fool's Day. About 9 am, he went into the Boy's room, and rousted him out of bed, telling him to get going cuz the house was on fire. Here is the boy, eyes closed, but running into the living room, hading to the front door, where the Girl and I stood, and we all got to holler "April Fool's". It was fun, but both the Girl and I told Papa we thought he should have just told the Boy he was late for school. He promised not to yell Fire unless there was one.

For the record, we are not a big practical joking family, but every once in a while we do engage in this behaviour, especially when one of the kids asks for it,lol.
TTFN,
LB

Lookout dirt! Here comes Gramma!

I so wish I had the dangum digital camera figured out! If I did, I would post pics of my living room: 6 baskets of clean but not folded laundry on the floor and the couch, piles of books stacked 10 high on the coffee table (truthfully known as the book table), cobwebs on the ugly cigarette smoke-stained walls, and layers of dirt on the untreated,paint-stained wood floor. Then we would move to the kitchen, where the dishes aren't done, the dining room table is filled with random stuff, the counter is piled a foot high with bills, cookbooks, and nameless junk, and again, those yucky, dirty walls. These are the before pictures. This is what happens when you are sick for a month, and then apathetic for the following month, sigh.

Papa and the Girl just left to head over to the B's house to load some manure into the trailer in the rain (Yes it was sunny all week, and I didn't ever get out into the garden, and now it it the weekend, and supposed to rain the whole time.), and then he will swoop by and pick up Gramma and her vaccuum, and her bucket of cleaning supplies. She and I are gonna dig in and attack this place. I am hoping that once the walls are clean, it will inspire me to get out the can of Kilz Papa bought me a month ago, and start on the walls. Then I want Papa's painter/sister to come help me pick colors, and get us some paint.

Now how am I supposed to get all this done when I have no motivation or gumption, I don't know, but I need to turn my garden, help Papa build the new section, and also prime and then paint all of the rooms on the first floor. We won't even mention that I want to get my workspacce in the basement cleared and organized, that I have 3 huge quilting projects in my head, that the house has to be managed, and that I am responsible for schooling 2 middle school kids. I need to rise to this challenge, but I feel small just thinking about it. I guess if Dy can remodel a house with 3 boys and a new baby, I can do this, right? Just keep plugging away.

Okay, I best go fix myself and the Boy some breaky, and then get crackin'. I want to at least have cleared the living room floor before my mom shows up rarin' to go!