Saturday, July 18, 2009

A Rough Week But Good Follows

It's been one of "those" weeks for me. Thankfully there was enough good in it to choke out the bad. I won't discuss too much of the bad. It's enough for you to know it was, indeed, truly bad and it was something I could do nothing about. That it was bad, I could handle. But the fact that I could do nothing? That's tough to swallow on any given day. So, on to the good stuff...

The church we are attending had its Vacation Bible School during the last week. John and I got to help out in fun ways. He ran the computer for the powerpoint and video presentations and created a slideshow for the family night assembly. I took pictures of all that went on. The kids had a blast. Rowan went to her class on day 1 without a peep, at least to my knowlege. It's the first time she's ever done that. Then on day 2 we had a major influx of kids and she started having second thoughts. By day 3 she knew she didn't belong in that mob of kids and she cried most of the day. Close to the end of the day, I let her stay with me and she stayed with me thru the rest of the days. All in all, not too bad. Noah was too old for a class so he was a youth helper. He hopped around from music, to the kitchen, to recreation. He and the other youth helpers were very good about going where we needed them. I can honestly say that without them, we would have had an extremely rough time trying to get everything done. Shiloh had lots of fun in her class and made new friends. She tried really hard to memorize all the scriptures. She's got a few of them memorized. It makes me smile. She's such a hard worker and she wants to do well.

Well, I need to run. We are going to try to get the girls to an Arts and Music program. Here's hoping it's really great and they'll learn good stuff. Laugh a lot!

Friday, July 10, 2009

One Of Those Days

Do you ever have one of those days in which the sun shines brightly, the weather is gorgeous, you've been able to go shopping and you still feel like something just isn't right? Yeah, I bet you have. Today was one of those days for me. I've felt very angsty all day. It's got to be hormones but I just wish this stupid feeling would take a hike during the beautiful sunshine.

I got to go to Marshall's only to find the candle lanterns I had my eye on had all ready been sold. The only good deal I found that I could take advantage of was Mrs Meyers laundry detergent. Got that for $8.99 and was somewhat mollified. Bought some Jones sodas for the kids at World Market. Went to Barnes and Noble for a snack. See? Lots of nice things...but still just not quite right. I guess I'll just have t wait it out. I'm so worn out this evening that I just want to sit and enjoy some music and some peace and quiet while I force my children to enjoy what's left of the sunshine.

Yes, I did say force. I have 2 children who never have to be forced to play outside. My middle child is another matter entirely. She'd rather sit and read or play on the computer. But they've been cooped up inside a building or a car all day. Time to burn some of that pent up energy.

Well, I guess I better post this before my page decides to refresh... Remember to breathe...

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Cloudy Days = Intermittent Internet

Hello, again! I'm hoping I can get thru this without an internet break down. There's a lot to talk about so here goes...

I joined a cause on facebook. The title of the cause is "People Against Poor Grammar." If that's not it exactly, it's pretty close to the actual name. I'm glad this cause exists somewhere. I was beginning to think people just didn't care anymore. I was beginning to think we were headed back to the Middle Ages and people could start spelling anything in any way they chose. Have we forgotten how confusing that was?? Sometimes there was no spacing between words, which caused even more confusion. I wonder if people got paid a couple bags of gold to decipher "code" back then.

I was playing around with my media player yesterday and put together a huge ecclectic play list. Included are artists like Van Morrison, 12 Stones, Rhianna, Jacob's Trouble, Flo Rida, My Chemical Romance and sooooo many more! I added all the songs I wanted and then had the player arrange them alphabetically. Now I have a variety of artists performing a variety of songs in various locations on my playlist! LOL I know. I'm goofy. :-b

I cooked at home for just my family yesterday. It's been a long time since I have done so. I may or may not have mentioned this before, but I do not have a working stove yet. We are slowly getting the parts we need and we only need a couple of things for the breaker box. Almost there...unh....r.e.a.c.h... Anyway, I cooked on "the eye" (our little plug in double burner thingy). Every time I get it out, I say "the eye" as if I was in the movie LOTR. Makes a mediocre job more fun...
We had cheesy veggie casserole. Here's how I did it. Take your fave mac and cheese and prep according to directions. While the noodles are cooking, take your three favorite veggies and prep them in steam bags in the microwave. Next cook one strip of bacon or turkey bacon per person. You can do this in the microwave as well. When the noodles are done and all prep for mac and cheese is finished (butter, milk, sauce added in) then add the veggies one at a time and stir them in. Chop up the bacon and add that in. C'est voila! You have a one pot meal that only dirtied one pot, one spoon and one ceramic plate (cook bacon on that). Easy clean-up is a must here at our house.

I spent a considerable amount of time on blogthings yesterday. Their quizzes are so fun! I think I must have taken at least 15 over the course of the day. One might even say that I have no life to speak of. And one would be mostly right, if they didn't realize how much multi-tasking I do. I managed to get a load of clothes out on the line, cook supper, teach my son his lessons (while doing that...NO multi-tasking!), cook supper for us, talk to friends on social sites, practice piano pieces for Sunday's worship service and spend some time watching a movie and reading a book before bed. I also washed a sink full of dishes. All in all, a pretty productive day was yesterday.

I really want to get my hair colored some funky way. The only hang ups with it are the initial cost for someone to do it professionally (b/c I don't trust myself to get it right) and the ruination of my hair. I really have pretty nice hair, though it doesn't look it quite a lot of the time. I also happen to like my original hair color now, after many years in school hating the fact that I was a brunette with green eyes. I will probably do it eventually...

The school thing brought something else to mind. I used to hate my hair color and my eye color b/c I thought they were drab. Drab! Then I hit a certain point and I really took a good look at myself. Instead of looking for all the negative points, I started looking for positive ones. I starting seeing random strands of gold, silver and copper in my hair! And I also started seeing my eyes change in certain lighting and with certain colors of make-up. Wow! This could be fun, right? So then I decided being me on all points was not a bad thing at all. I started embracing my weirdness (some people might say "uniqueness" but I'm all about truth!) and trying to focus on the people who loved me for being me. Not that I turned away from those who didn't (and still don't) understand me, but I just spent less time with them. One of my friends in San Angelo told me something right before we moved from there. She said, "Don't let them stop you from being you!" She knew we were coming to my hometown and she knew my complaints from a previous stay here. I am hoping when I see her again I'll be able to tell her I'm still me. But I guess they already know that...

I found someone from my grade school days not too long ago. This was someone I worried about and prayed for anytime I thought about her. It was a relief to finally find out she was on MySpace. It was great to know she was alive and well and that we might be able to meet for a visit sometime. If there's someone you are looking for, don't give up hope. It had been at least 8 years or more since I last saw my friend. She has never met my two girls. It'll be interesting.

Well, I guess I better get started on my day. Lots to do. Remember to breathe! Laugh a lot!

Friday, July 3, 2009

Well, It's Official

It's official. You cannot procrastinate while making a mosaic. Be prepared to spend all the time you need to remove the grout on your project, whatever that project may be. My table top is ruined. Upset? Well, I suppose but I guess I've resigned myself to the fact. Moving on...to another better fated project?

I have high hopes for my garden. I've found some lovely accents in the Collections, Etc. catalog. I'm hoping to use birthday money to accessorize my yard and garden. The shade garden will have to wait until next spring but it will truly be worth waiting for. I should still be getting some dutch irises in October. Here's hoping the weather will be cooler for planting.

I could complain some more about Wild Blue but I guess I'll refrain since I went off on their internet service in my last email. It's really a shame we can't access any other form of higher speed internet at our location. We are really and truly in the middle of nowhere.

Well, I guess I'll call it quits for now in the hopes I can post this before losing internet on this fine mostly sunny day.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

It's a Shame!

It's a shame that I have to go 45 minutes away from my home to get a good deal on dadgum groceries. How ridiculous! Gosh I got spoiled in the military... Well, I should specify that I got spoiled in the Air Force. I'm thinking Army folk don't have as many nice cities to live in. The only Army post I'm familiar with is Ft. Polk and it's nothing to get really excited about. Podunk town with nothing to do but go see a movie or go get drunk. When my dh finally got to an Air Force base, we went to Biloxi. Wow! What a pleasant change! Art museums, kid museum, historical sites to visit...all kinds of stuff to do and a home school organization right there on the base. In a way I miss that place but I'll just be thankful for the experience. The people who made it the best for me are gone to other places now and it just wouldn't be the same. Then we moved to San Angelo, TX and I thought we'd gone to the end of the world (and maybe taken a nose dive off the edge, at that). But in general, the people were nice, if not immediately. I mean can you blame people in the civilian world for having the luxury of being able to wait a while to determine a person's character? In the military, if you wait too long, people leave. Then you're left wondering why you waited so long. But anyway, SA had art museums and historical sites and kid activities...a really family centered town. And now we're back where I started from and I'm realizing why I wanted to leave this place in the long ago times of high school. There's stuff to do but you have to drive for an hour to get there! The only high speed internet at our house (and only at our house, mind you) costs an astronomical 89.95 just so you can have the amount of space you need to run all the new web pages using java and all the social sites. Sure, I could do without...I suppose. But once you've had it, it's hard to let go. Not to mention, I'd never be able to keep in touch with all my friends like I do now. At least our town has a library (though it's small and not really up to date...they are just now getting the bar code system going) and a couple of museums. There aren't that many activities for kids though. I just wish there was more that was closer to us. Well, I guess that's enough poor me's for today. It's a rainy day so this may post and it may not. My 89 bucks put to "good" use...