Thoughts

I've been wondering what to do with this blog.  I don't seem to have many readers, and I do blog somewhere else.  On the other hand, I do like working with this blog platform.  I came over from Xanga and I find it easy to use.

But Xanga is somewhere else now, and I miss my friends but can't seem to find them easily, and they didn't come over here.

So I'm considering just keeping up one blog.  What do you think?

Blether

It has been crazy busy since we started regular lessons again.  One forgets how much time school takes.  I make a list every morning, and lately my list hasn't been nearly as full as it was in the summer.  I almost wonder if I'm accomplishing anything--but as we make slow but steady progress through the curriculum, I know that I am, or rather, we are--since the kids are doing most of that work.

In addition to that, we've visited some friends, been to market and the grocery store, processed tomatoes and made salsa, passata, and tomato sauce.  My dear husband has done most of the canning.  I do okay at freezing vegetables, but don't feel confident at all about canning.  Plus all that, there is the usual cooking, cleaning, laundry and housework.  Some days it is just all overwhelming.

Last week I twisted my ankle, nearly falling down the front steps.  That put a wrench in my exercising for a few days, but I am happy to say it feels completely better already.  I'm not sure what I did exactly, but I am very glad it is better.

On the creative front, I've done very little.  Yesterday I sat down with a project for an hour, and spent half the time taking out seven stitches.  Because of the small count fabric, and the number of different shades in the area, it was very difficult to do.  But again because of the number of different shades, I can't seem to count past a mistake, however slight (it was one stitch off).  Needless to say, that was frustrating.  This project is more difficult than some I've done.  It is here, if you want to see it.  The actual photograph in the chart is prettier than the photo in the online catalogue, but that gives you an idea.  I think there are nine pages of chart.

Looking outside this morning, it is wet and gray--water drops on the leaves and window feeder after the tremendous rainstorm last night.  It is supposed to cool down.  It is kind of funny these days having to check the forecast before getting dressed every morning because you don't know if it will be a jeans and short-sleeved shirt day, jeans and sweater day, or capris and a t-shirt day.

Ok, I've rambled enough for the morning.  I have a menu to start on, and/or a walk routine to do, so I'd better get moving.

School, Fall Fair, and Salsa

This week is the first week we've had full days of lessons since we "officially" started our school year near the end of August.  Since that time, Belle got more work than she'd had all summer, we had a visit from friends lasting a couple of days, and Fall Fair happened.

We had a lovely time with friends last week-friends we haven't seen in a few years. In fact, they have two more children than they did the last time we saw them. We were blessed to have the use of a tent trailer for some of them to sleep in. That helped immensely, but it didn't solve the problem of one bathroom for seven children and four adults.  However, we survived, and quite happily.

The day after friends left, we spent the day baking for Fall Fair.  Two loaves of bread, two chocolate cakes (one flopped), one pan of brownies, one pineapple upside down cake, tea biscuits and shortbread, all baked by the three oldest family members, were ready by a rather late bedtime that evening.  Belle and I also had entries in Crafts.

Friday Belle and I had our duties at the Fair. We always have a good time watching and assisting the judges.

Saturday after a hurried house-cleaning, we were off to look at all the exhibits, have lunch, and pie! Five first-place wins, four second place wins, and two non-placing items were the result of our hard work.

Monday we started our lessons in earnest. It was a good day, but busy. Tuesday, in addition to some lessons, was salsa-making day.   My husband posted his take on that here. Friends also blessed us with a load of green beans.   Wednesday, in addition to school, it was my turn to work in the Hospital gift shop.

So it has been a busy couple of weeks.

Here are the results of some of the work last week:

And this week:

Best Laid Plans and the Start of our School Year

All summer I was planning to start school this past Monday.  I worked hard to get all of our Sonlight Core into Homeschool Tracker, and got it all done.  The calendar was empty Monday, and my list had the huge holes in it indicating the time that our lessons take up.

Seems we often get colds in the summer--usually just once.  Well they hit last week.  Belle went down first.  I think she picked it up from one of the kids at the daycare.  She had it a few days, and then Saturday night, Boo came down with it.  He was quite sick Sunday, and hardly moved off the couch all day.

So we held our plans loosely.  Monday morning the kids still weren't up to much, and I felt that jumping in with both feet to a full school schedule would not get things off to a good start.  So we did our "sick" schedule.  I read History and Science to the kids while they kept company with the tissue box and trash can.  It went well, and I was able to get a bit of an idea of how long some things are going to take.

We did that schedule Monday and Tuesday.  Wednesday Belle had to work, and Thursday was the first opportunity we've had all summer to take our neighbour (who doesn't drive) to town.  She has another friend who takes her sometimes, so she isn't totally dependent on me.  But we enjoy our times together.  Belle came with us.  Boo is still not feeling 100 percent.  Today we expect to travel to see some friends.  So summer is still here, and I've decided that until the beginning of September, when work for Belle will slow down, and PS kids go back to school, we will continue with a light schedule most days.  At this point,
 next week is looking at least as busy as this one.  And the lovely weather won't last a lot longer, so best to enjoy it while we can.

I am so thankful for the flexibility of homeschooling.

The Simple Woman's Daybook

It has been a crazy busy week, and today I think I just need to slow down and appreciate some simple things.  So here is my Daybook post.  And it is a repost from my other blog, so if you read that one, you've read this one.

FOR TODAY

Outside my window...I see a pale blue sky over yellow-tinted trees (yes the colours are turning already).  There is no breeze, and the forecast is promising the first really warm weather this month for next week.

I am thinking...about a lot of things--the things I have to do today, trying to start our homeschool year next week, and about living in the present.  

I am thankful...for the visit with my Dad this week.  He stayed a couple of days, played lots of games with the children and us, and really seemed to enjoy his visit.

In the kitchen...the counters are a bit cluttered, but mostly with clean things.  Chicken fricassee with mushrooms is on the menu for tomorrow.   Today will be simple meals.

I am wearing...denim capris and a t-shirt.  It is nice that we are having a bit more summer weather.  I wore jeans and fleeces earlier in the week.

I am creating...not much except lesson plans and meals this week.  But the lesson plans are done, and the meals are simpler--so hopefully I'll have the energy to stitch after the cleaning is done today.

I am going...to the little grocery store in town, maybe as soon as it opens this morning, to get a few groceries.

I am wondering...if I can get my cleaning done quickly this morning, and have time to play this afternoon.

I am reading...books on my Kindle (when I'm not falling asleep).  Starting next week it will be back to reading good books to the children.

I am hoping...for a smooth start to our school year.  Belle has a bad cold though, and we often seem to get colds near the beginning of the year, so I'm hoping she doesn't share.

I am looking forward to...the beginning of our school routine.  It gets busy, but there is less of the "I'm not sure what I should be doing now feeling".

I am learning...that it is good to rest at times.  Belle wants to sew this year.  I am hoping that since I won't be making frequent trips away for my Mom, that I will be able to take time off the books at times and work at other skills.

Around the house...Boo's alarm clock just went off.  He will be up to check the Red Sox scores soon.  Clutter sits around, unsuspecting of the whirlwind of cleaning that will take place later this morning.

I am pondering ...creating margin, as I read in a blog post this week.  We get so busy sometimes, and scattered.  I want to be present, to be with my family, not fretting or worrying about everything I need to do.

A favourite quote for today...again from another blog post: "What we do in the worst of times determines who we are all the time."  The post was talking about the discipline of gratitude--being thankful for everything, even the difficult things.  Something to chew on.

One of my favourite things...unscheduled time.  (I like a schedule too, but I wouldn't like either thing all the time.  Balance is good.)

A few plans for the rest of the week:  Clean the house, pay bills, get ready for Sunday, and Monday, and look after my family.

A peek into my day:   

If you wish to take part in The Simple Woman's Daybook, please go here.

The Things We Want to Do

As I've been plugging away at putting our Sonlight Core into Homeschool Tracker, I am struck by the feeling that summer is passing very quickly, and will soon be gone.  Lesson planning takes hours and hours of work.  But it also saves hours and hours of work during the school year, when I can simply plug the day's assignments into the plan for the day without having to enter books or type everything out.  When one is trying to school, keep up with meals, and do the laundry--in addition to all the other mundane (or not so mundane) details of daily life--it has been a sanity saver for me to have everything planned out.  But as I look at my two remaining weeks of summer, I also note that I have nine weeks of Read-Alouds to plan, and twelve weeks of History.  There is a fair amount of work left to be done.

We are hoping to start our year at around August 19.  So far I think the busiest part of this week is over (at least one can hope), so I should be able to get done with the Read-Alouds at least.  That leaves History, and Dad is coming up next week for a visit.  I know that I won't want to be spending all my time lesson-planning.  What I am going to do about that remains to be seen.

But one cannot spend all of the remaining summer break lesson planning.  So I thought I should make a list of things we still want to do.

First on the list, but not necessarily first in the matter of importance is to finish weeding the driveway.  Actually it is a job that is never really finished.  The gravel on the driveway is mostly gone, washed away by the combined effect of rain, snow-blowing, and the slightly downward slope of the driveway.  But if we can get enough done that it looks better until the snow starts, I will be happy.

Secondly, I would like to weed around the dining room window.  That is at the back of the house, and isn't really seen, but I've been gradually working around the deck and the garage this year, trying to pull out the maple trees before the forest grows.

That's the yardwork.  Another thing on my bucket list for the summer is to visit the cemetery about 25 minutes away where some of my ancestors are buried.  When considering that I grew up in five countries on two continents, and never really had a place to call home--except where we were living at the time,  I think that it is really cool that we have now lived for nearly ten years in the area in which my great great grandparents lived.  I have never been to this cemetery, although some of my siblings have.  I am sort of hoping that this is something we can do with Dad next week.

Another thing on the list is to go on at least one more bike ride with the children.  We went in the spring, but haven't even had the bikes out this summer.  It has either been simply too hot, or too wet.  And I'm not one to ride a bike down to the park, or to the grocery store.  I want to ride for fun.  This is one thing that we still may be able to do on nice evenings after we start lessons.

It would be fun to take a day to do something "touristy" in one of the nearby towns too, but I don't know if we will have time for that.  I was chatting with my daughter last night, and we had to laugh about the fact that though we travel a lot, we tend to be real homebodies when we aren't travelling.  We haven't seen a lot of our own area!  I would like to change that, but that may have to be a longer term project.

That's all I can think of at the moment.  We have had more times when we played games together or made beads together this summer.  That has been really fun.

What is left on your bucket list for summer?

{TH} Read

This is my first {TH} read post.  I hope I get the format correct.

This past week I have been working on finishing up a set of coasters that I picked up last year.  I carry them in my purse in a little bag, and pull them out to work on whenever I am waiting--at the pool for the kids, in doctor's offices, on the bus to the City to see my Dad.  It is a lifesaver for my patience.  I can accomplish something while I sit.  I have one out of the set left to finish.

I've been receiving a subscription to Canadian Living for probably close to nine years now.  The magazine has changed over the years.  Some changes I like, and some I don't.  But the recipes are often excellent, and I have tried many of them over the years.  Some have become favourites of ours, and I keep them in my Living Cookbook software.

On my Kindle I've been reading a book about a man who grew up in Africa.  I'm not sure I really like it, but it does evoke a lot of memories of the sights and sounds of the places I lived in as a child.

Lazy Days and Summer Heat

This may be one of the first summers that I have actually taken more than a few days off.  Usually I have a long list of things that I am unable to do during the year that I try to catch up on during the summer.  I do still have a list, but somehow the priorities this summer just don't seem to be the same.  Usually the emphasis is on doing-doing-doing, but this year I want to simply BE--more often anyway.  The demands of day-to-day life are still there:  I still have to cook, and clean, and do laundry, budget and pay bills.

This year, high on my list are things like "play with the kids", bike, quilt, stitch, play games.  So far we've only biked one afternoon.  And I haven't gotten the quilt out yet.  But I have spent time stitching on the deck with Belle while Boo plays ball in the backyard.  We've played some games, both inside and out.  I've made beads with Belle.  We've spent time reading together.  That has been fun.

Last week though was basically a write-off as far as getting anything done was concerned.  It was SO hot and muggy that it was all I could do to get meals on the table and laundry done.  It would get up to nearly 90 degrees in the house (with fans going all the time), and only get down to 80 at night, and the humidex would make it feel like over 100.  I am so thankful for the grill that allowed us to cook outside every evening, with a minimum of cooking inside.  We nearly ran through our repertoire of grill recipes last week.  From 11-noon every day I was sitting beside the pool with the only shade being my hat, drinking a lot of water and trying to relax while baking in the sun.  The kids had it slightly better as they were in the pool!

This week is looking like it will be cooler--still hot, but not like last week.  Swimming lessons are continuing. Starting to organize books and make a schedule for our school year is on my list.  Maybe I'll start lesson planning, and maybe I won't.  This list still includes doing fun things.

It is hard to know why the change this summer.  I've been homeschooling for ten years now.  Maybe I need a real break.  My Mom passed away in December.  I think in some ways, her passing has made being with my family more important.  I had a great relationship with her, and I want that same relationship with my kids.  Rest is important too.  I hope that we can go into the next school year feeling refreshed.

Anyway, I've been reading a few blogs and talking to people and I think I am not alone.  How do you feel about not just letting the children have a break from study, but taking one yourself?

17 Years!

Seventeen years ago today we started our journey into married life.  While it has been a journey,  I can honestly say, I would rather be at this point now than at the beginning.  Although life has its ups and downs, and marriage takes a lot of work, and even more grace, I do love my husband and enjoy being with him as much and more than I did seventeen years ago.

In seventeen years we have lived in two countries, and frequently travelled to a third, a city and a town, two town-houses and a house.  We have travelled together, worked together, played together, laughed together, cried together, and would still rather be together (most of the time) than with anyone else.

On our wedding day it was 105 degrees F.  I was so hot, the glow on my face was as much from heat as happiness. There was no air conditioning in the church (it was very rare to be that hot in Portland).  I could happily have stood with a fan under my skirts.

The photographer had gotten the date wrong and almost didn't show up.  Most of our photos (at least the ones before the wedding) look like we were stood up in a hurry and shot.  (We were).  The most priceless memory was of my 92 year old grandmother stating in a loud whisper "I don't smile for photographs", and then getting caught by the photographer with a great beaming smile on her face when she was introduced to my husband for the first time.

The lady doing the flowers for the reception (all who helped us volunteered) didn't even try to stick with our colours and there was the bright red flowers on our cake table with our deep blue and green tartan colours. No one thought to move it for the cake photos.

Ah yes, there are many reasons I would much prefer to be at this stage of life.  Now we are enjoying family- with a teenager and a pre-teen.  Life isn't a lot easier, and marriage still takes work, but the blessings are there and the rewards are tangible.  We look forward to the future, trusting that whatever changes it might bring, the Lord is with us, and is taking care of us.

The Simple Woman's Daybook

Before I start this, I should say that I am cross-posting from my other blog at Wordpress.  So if you've read that one, this will be mostly a repeat.

FOR TODAY

Outside my window...the sky is blue, the sun is shining, and there is a light breeze ruffling the leaves of the trees in the garden.  It is promising to be a warm day.

I am thinking...about my list today, and the things I want to accomplish.

I am thankful...for the blessing of being able to spend mornings this week with a friend and her daughter while the children were at VBS.

In the kitchen...the counters are full of clean dishes.  My dear husband cooked a spectacular Anniversary (one day early) dinner last night.  We opted for a special meal at home instead of going out, and it was delicious!  Chicken Parmesan with nice curly pasta, and an anti-pasta of dishes of nice olives, mellon and prosciutto, and a tomato-mozzarella and basil salad.

I am wearing...pyjamas!  It is the first day this week I haven't had to be ready to go by 8:30 am, and I'm enjoying it.

I am creating...well, not exactly creating, but working on, a new cross-stitch project that has been in my want-to-do box for years.  It is a pair of roses--quite different from my usual designs.  I am working on it at the moment, partly to get inspired to stitch more, and partly because I can sit outside and do it--it is much easier than taking out my floor stand.

I am going...to see if the children are waking up, as soon as I finish this.

I am wondering...if I can get my cleaning done quickly this morning, and have time to play this afternoon.

I am reading...books on my Kindle (when I'm not falling asleep).

I am hoping...for a good and restful weekend.

I am looking forward to...not a lot really, just trying to enjoy the present days of a slightly slower pace.

I am learning...that having a shorter list isn't a bad thing.  It is good to lighten up on the to-dos once in a while.

Around the house...the living room is cluttered with the remains of the laundry, small-child toys (I got to play at being a Grandma this week, and loved it!), and the kitchen is full of dishes.  It is cleaning day today.

I am pondering ...thoughts on resting.

A favourite quote for today...Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless. Mother Teresa

One of my favourite things...spending time with my husband and children, doing things as a family.

A few plans for the rest of the week:  Clean the house, pay bills, get ready for Sunday, and enjoy my family.

A peek into my day:   

If you wish to take part in The Simple Woman's Daybook, please go here.

Thankful Thursday

It has been a busy week.  The kids are both involved in VBS, which puts our family in the highly unusual situation of having to be up, fed, and ready to go by 8:25 every morning!  It is going well for them though.  Belle is a group leader this year, and Boo is enjoying being in a group with friends.

I opted to forgo a very quick walk this morning to get out a very quick blog post.

I am thankful for:

1. The ability I've had to wake up at 5:30 am, or before that, all week.  It gives me time to have my quiet time, exercise, and my morning routine before the early breakfasts of this week.  And I'm enjoying the singing of the birds!
2. The fact that the kids are enjoying VBS.
3. The daily visits I have had with a friend from church and her little girl each morning.  Her kids are in VBS this year for the first time.  She is staying with me each day so she doesn't have to make two thirty minute trips to town each morning.  We are having a great time, visiting and being entertained by her smallest child.
4. My latest completed cross-stitch is framed and hanging.  This is the first time in recent years we've had to move a picture to make place for a new one.  Boo said, "Mom, if we ever get a new house, you need a gallery!"  It is just as well that I only get one done about every three years!
5. Summer break from school.  Although I miss the times we spend together reading--we were doing that last week, but haven't had much time this week.

I am sure I could think of more things to be thankful for, but I am out of time.

I am linking up with The Army Chap's Wife for this post.  Please feel free to join us.

Life Is a Blur

I've been wanting to blog for a while here, but time just doesn't seem to allow.  As it is this morning, if I don't get this post up quickly, I will run out of time for a walk, which I really need.

Since the floor went in, and I went to the city, summertime seems to be passing very quickly.  Next week, the children are involved in VBS in our town, and the following two weeks will be busy with swimming lessons.  I hope I can be organized enough to work on lesson planning and other summer tasks after spending the large part of the morning at the pool.

I know this is old news, but I did get some photos of the super moon.  It was really cool to see how orange it was.

Monday night we went with friends to watch Canada Day fireworks in a really small town in our area.  (And I thought we live in a small town!)  Anyway, there weren't as many of them as we watched from the upstairs window the night before in our own town, but it was the first time we had actually gone to see them outside, and being with friends really made the evening for us.

Wednesday night we spent the evening with other friends in another town near us at an old car show.  We don't do old cars (unless you count our nearly fifteen year old van), but again being with friends who do, made the evening nice for us.  It was interesting to see a vehicle very much like one my parents had in the early seventies.  The colour was different, but the make was the same.  That car was totalled in an accident with my parents, brother and myself.  By the grace of God, none of us were seriously injured in that accident.  Sorry I didn't think to take any photos of that car.

The rest of the week has been spent in puttering around the house.  Belle and I cleaned out our big linen and supply closet one day.  I updated a bunch of schoolbooks in my Readerware database, pulled some weeds in the garden and yard, worked on laundry, and tried to get meals on the table--although not as successfully as some weeks.  My much-loved electric skillet has failed (after only four years of use--boy do things not last like they used to!), and dinner one night was burned on the bottom.

I have only done a little cross-stitch one evening.  But I have spent some time with Belle rolling paper beads. That was fun to do, and fun to do with Belle.  Not too much time to be crafting these days.  You wonder where the time goes when you aren't doing school.

That reminds me, the kids finished their lessons for the summer on Monday.  But we have been spending time reading Sonlight books each day.  I like that because it gives us some together time each day.

Well, that is my blur of a week.  Does anyone else feel the time whizzing by?

In which my floor erupted...

....and I had to get a new one.

A week or so ago, I noticed a change in the kitchen floor.

It seemed to have raised slightly near the stove and dishwasher, and was a bit soft feeling around the raised bit.  By Sunday morning there was a noticeable change.  By Monday morning, I was tripping when I walked around in the kitchen.  It was clear that something had to be done.  We were confused, stymied, unsure as to what would be causing the shift.  There was no sign of leaking around the dishwasher or water anywhere else.

So we made a phone call.  The result of that call is that a couple of the floor boards came up (we have laminate flooring in the kitchen, so it was relatively easy to remove the boards).  Underneath the laminate, we found the foam underlay, and under that, we found first...disintegrating linoleum, and then...hardwood.  But the hardwood looked like this:

It may be difficult to see, but it was obvious to us that the boards had buckled.  Something had to be done.

I was headed to the city the next day, to see my Dad, and help him pick out a memorial for my Mom's grave.  It was decided that work would begin Tuesday morning, and hopefully would be completed before my return.  Seems to me, we've been there before.  At any rate, the plan was to pull up the damaged hardwood and replace it with plywood, and then install the laminate.

Under the damaged hardwood, they found this....(will wonders never cease?) 

 I believe it is an early type of linoleum, that had to be waxed?  If anyone knows better, I'd welcome comments.  (With floors like this, it makes me wonder what colour the walls were!)

The hope was to be able to patch the areas that needed work, and not have to completely take up the old floor.   Well...as times change, so do products.  Not only did the new boards not match the colour of the old ones, but the tongue in groove system had also changed, and no amount of effort was going to make the old tongues fit into the new grooves.

So while I was blissfully away in the city (sort of)...my family was hard at work doing this...

And then 

And finally

It wasn't all done before I came home, but it was mostly done,  and I was home in time to help move everything back into the kitchen.

What caused the problem?  Water. But not from inside.  Somehow, somewhere it is coming in from outside, and going under the floor.  So that is the next project.  And I am glad it is summer and there is no snow to melt and ruin my new floor.

Yard Work

The weather has been beautiful this week, not too hot, and perfect for working on the jungle that has been our yard this spring.  In fact, the kids and I even did some of our lessons outside, soaking up some of the rays.

We've had our garden in for a while.  It is a very small garden.  We just have tomatoes, onions, leeks, and some herbs planted in there.  Then  my husband has planted an herb garden in the big farm bucket that is covered with blue tarp and sits on the remains of our big tree.  It is the perfect height for him to work in.  My little patch is the flower garden in the side yard.  It has bulbs that come up in the spring, and then I like to plant petunias in it for summer colour.  It looks a wee bit messy at the moment, as the tulips are still partly green and brown, and the petunias haven't spread yet.  I also have a couple of carnation plants in there, and they are full of buds.

At the back of the yard, by the fence, the gout weed had taken over.  While it was a mass of not an ugly colour of green, it was taking over everything.  I haven't been able to completely get rid of it, but we pull lots out every year.  The kids and I pulled three yard debris bags of the stuff the other day.  We uncovered the compost bin (we had still been able to get to the lid),  and eight plant pots that had completely disappeared under the green.  We also found two tennis balls (Boo bats and throws them around instead of baseballs--LOTS easier on the windows).

Belle took all the pots and dumped the dirt into the wheelbarrow, where she worked it over and took out all the weeds.  Then she mixed in compost and refilled the pots.  Off we went to the store to get more flowers.  The pots are now planted  with petunias in a mix of different colours.  I am hoping to eventually put them by the back fence so I can see the colour from the house, but they may go out in front of the house for a little while.

Yesterday we all started work on the patch at the front of the house.  There used to be three rose bushes and two shrubs in there.  But the grass got in and the rose bushes were no longer doing well.   One of them had a tree (we think maybe it is some kind of sumac) growing just behind it and overwhelming it ( I had thought it was the plant the rose was grafted into).  Also an invasive vine was growing over everything.  The shrubs were overgrown and getting increasingly difficult to handle.  It has been a source of frustration for me for the past two years.  And I always thought the front looked like a rental property...don't ask me why because I couldn't tell you.  It was just something about the look--or lack of care.  At any rate, we cut and chopped for hours yesterday.  My dear husband did most of the hard work.  I worked at bagging all the debris, and the kids helped where they were needed.  The shrubs are gone now, and two of the three rose bushes.  We ran out of steam before we got to the third one.  Now we want to clean out the dirt and plant something else in there.  We are not sure what yet.  The front of the house faces south so gets a lot of sun in the summer.

The other big project is the weeds in the driveway.  Dear husband is working on those.  Belle had already worked to pull the weeds out of the gaps in our walkway.  And with the grass mowed, the yard is looking improved.  There is still lots of work to do though.

Sorry, no pictures.  I never even thought of getting the camera out--I was just too busy working.  But when it is done, I'll post photos of the new look.

Thankful Thursday (on Friday again)

It has been kind of a tough week in many ways.  I started out the week thinking I was relapsing into the illness I had last month.  I had three days of sore throat again, and then it mostly disappeared.  Was it residual stuff or allergies?  I don't know.  Other things were tough, and made it kind of an emotional week--health concerns for family members, feeling like I was barely keeping my head above water with lessons for the kids, meals that didn't turn out well, and relationships in tough spots.

But there were other things that were good: (in no particular order)

•  A visit to a 90 year old lady with my Pastor husband.  She was so very happy, content, and while a bit forgetful, very aware that she is not alone, that the Lord is always with her.  It was an encouragement to me.
• Reading one of the school books to the children, and the time we have spent laughing over the story.
• Playing "Lazy Batter" outside with the kids.  A game in which a person sits on the deck steps with a bat.  One child stands a couple of yards away on either side, and pitches a tennis ball.  The Batter tries to bat the ball either right or left-handed.  Needless to say there were a lot of misses, some hits, and a lot of laughter.  (The children made up the game.)
• My new dishwasher, installed on Tuesday.  It is so quiet, and I'm hoping much more energy efficient than the other one, bought (at a higher price) nine years ago.  Right now it is running on the overnight cycle--takes up to six hours, but supposedly saves lots of energy.
• The many verses that have popped into my mind, at times when I was really struggling.  I remember asking the Lord for a verse one evening, thinking that the verses from Lamentations 3 were good for mornings, and I needed one for the evening.  Before I even had thought it all out, Isaiah 40:31 was there, in my mind.  He is faithful.
• Listening to a Red Sox game on MLB and hearing of their 17-5 win over the Rangers.  It was a fun game to listen to--if you were supporting the Sox.
• Finding that I have an iris in the yard that has buds on it--I have never had one bloom since we moved here.
• Planting my petunias.  Hope they do well this year.

Funny, that when I was thinking of trying to do a Thankful post, I was having a hard time finding the good things this week to be thankful for.  It is a good exercise to work on.

I am linking up with The Army Chap's Wife for this post.  Please feel free to join us.

Moved from Xanga

Well, given the word that Xanga might be shutting down/moving, and not having a paid blog over there, I decided it might be time to move.  I've followed quite a few blogs on Blogger for a while, and I thought I would move here.  But I haven't so far been able to move my archives.   If anyone can give me advice on how to do that, I would be much obliged.

I am hoping to be able to stay in touch with my friends from Xanga, so if you have a blog over here that I don't already know about, please let me know.

This is not the most exciting first post, but it gets the business out of the way.  I hope to blog more regularly soon.