What goes around, comes around

In Leavenworth, on Sunday, I did a little shopping here and there before we headed home--ornaments, pastries, that kind of thing. Well, when we got back to the car, I'm checking to see that I have my purse and camera and ornaments and strudel and almond kringle, when what to my wondering eyes should appear?! An extra paper bag I picked up from some poor hapless stranger I DON'T KNOW WHERE with a large, fresh pretzel, small container of cheesy dip, and 2 amazing cream-filled chocolate covered pastries!! That stolen water WAS SWEET, and that food eaten in secret WAS DELICIOUS......but of course I felt SO BAD AND SO DUMB. I also wondered what I would buy in the future that would disappear. Only 1 or 2 days later, I was at Fred Meyer's for the gazillionth time, and, among other things, I bought 3 boxes of kleenex. Well guess what never made it home with me? I could only smile.

Something really good to try in your coffee (much better than the so-called peppermint mocha creamer I bought, which tastes as scrumptious as dishwater): crushed peppermints mixed with sugar!! Awesome!! I came across this by accident. I made candy cane cookies and had a lot of that left over.

Jill sent me a hilarious thing via e-mail today. It's called "You've been Elfed," at www.elfyourself.com, and it's where you can upload photos of your kids' faces onto dancing elves' bodies. A HOOT!!! If I was a tech genious, I would have posted it, but you know I'm not.

Go to Leavenworth at Christmas time!!

Chris and I just got to have a very unusual and fabulous (and kid-free) weekend. What a godsend! I was at a fever pitch of stress by Friday night. But not anymore!! My parents watched the kids Friday and

Saturday night. Friday night, we went to Chris's company Christmas party.

Saturday around lunch time, we headed northeast to Leavenworth. It is the most charming, beautiful Bavarian style town. Everything is decorated with murals and greenery and lights. We went on the popular Christmas festival weekend. There was a tree lighting Saturday night, with a prayer and singing. The square was packed. There was a section for kids to sled right nearby, even when it was dark!!

We got an authentic dinner of wiener schnitzel and sausages and red cabbage and red potatoes. We could see all the people and buildings from our table. People were all wearing these fabulous hats--some looked like bowls of bananas or Christmas trees or antlers. There was a long line out the hat store. It was about 30 degrees and snowing very picturesquely.

We stayed at a motel 20 miles away, because there was no room at the inns. We went again Sunday morning. The pastry shop had yummy apple strudel and almond kringle. It wasn't quite as magical the morning after, but fun to stroll around again. There were metal fire pits with wood fires in them in the street night and day. What a great time!! Getting back to reality was tough today. Thanks, Mom and Dad!! :D

A few of my favorite things

Let me tell you a little story about my Sunday School adventures yesterday. None of it really happened. It was all just a dream. A very bad dream, kind of like...often. It's only an hour and a half with a dozen small angels, right? And I have 2 helpers.....so why would it be anything but lollipops and rainbows? These tikes are in the 2-4 age range, see. Most of them are so precious and good. But there was this one new kid, two years old, burly, and whenever he wasn't pleased, which was often, he'd throw this bratty boy fit, THROW himself on the floor, ROLL around vigorously, no matter who or what was in his way. Usually I'm on top of everything, as much as possible, but this kid really intimidated me, took me aback, and I let my teen helper tend to him. Her brother, maybe 11, mostly took up space unless you directly ordered him to do something specific. The girl is good help, though.
So there's 15 minutes till the kids get picked up. My teen helper tells me the toilet, which I last used, is about to overflow. This toilet is in our room's small bathroom. There is no plunger, and when I look, it seems that the flood waters might recede. So I SHUT THE DOOR. Five minutes later, she has to tell me that my little Israelites are in danger of being drowned in the Red Sea. Seriously. There is water gushing out from under the door. I rush next door where there is, fabulously, a Sunday School teacher who is a plumber by trade. He jiggles the handle, or whatever, to stem the tide. And of course, all the tots want to stand around the wet carpet and watch the shiny waters in the bathroom. They want to stick just one finger in, or just a toe. And the burly, screeching brat falls down and rolls dangerously near the water in one of his fits. He is oblivious, and gets his pants doused. The Sunday School Superintendant and my husband end up doing the mopping of ALL THAT WATER. Gross!!!!! But wait, there's more!!! This mother who is just a visitor and has a child in my class goes bonkers cuz her child has a wet pullup, and I should have checked every 30 minutes. We've got all these kids in a pretty small room, toilet water being mopped up, and she is raising cane cuz we should have known her wishes. I took a 3 hour nap not long after arriving home and didn't feel much pain after that.

Ordinary lint from the corners of my life

What is new?

I have a cold.
It is in the upper 50's, which I love. Only a few days ago, and for some
time, it had been in the mid-30's, which I hate.
Lots of wind and rain, and flooding in places.
Took the girls to a birthday party Saturday night, which included swimming at
a local high school, Subway sandwiches, and ice cream cake.
Chris took the boys to the new Cabela's store in Lacey and for a walk at a nearby
nature preserve, where they saw some birds and were cold.
Zoe has a Christmas play this week.
I haven't started Christmas shopping or decorating yet.
Something to try on your whole wheat home-made waffles with bacon on the side: Saute up some sliced, peeled apples in butter. Let cook a bit; add some water and sugar and let apples soften and sauce thicken. Add a small jar of caramel sauce. Stir. Enjoy!!
A good dinner: Angel hair pasta with cream cheese(softened, mixed with some
milk), smoked salmon, and green onions!! Combine the cooked angel hair
with the other ingredients and let flavors meld together maybe 5 minutes on
medium. Delish!! The smoked salmon from fresh seafood section was quite a
bit cheaper than that in foil from the canned tuna section.

Thanksgiving and Will's 5th birthday. He got Thomas stuff, mostly, and an "Air Hog" plane thing. This was his first b-day with friends.

After the dead fish debacle, Windy got quite sick. The vet said there was a chance of being sickened from the dead fish, but that didn't end up being the case. She got an owie on her paw from somewhere, which got infected. She also got giardia from the river. She's drunk river water many times since we've had her, so maybe she's had it for quite awhile. She had a high fever, lethargy, vomiting, limping, and chills when I took her in Friday afternoon. She's on 3 meds now and doing much better. This was not cheap, and the way it got paid for was definitely Providential. I am not kidding.

Friday, William heard a loud boom outside, which sounded to me like dynamite in some nearby hills. He told me the "mountain (Rainier) had INTERRUPTED" and did we have to move now?

Not the high point of my day: I took some of the kiddos to the river for a balmy November walk. Took the dog, too, cuz I knew I could let her off the leash. This river happens to be where salmon recently have swam upstream, spawned, I guess, and definitely DIED. What does Windy the low IQ dog do about seeing loads of decaying salmon everywhere? Oh, just RUB HER BODY IN, AROUND, OVER, AND THROUGH said stench!!!!! Like a lamb in clover. EAGERLY. ECSTATICALLY. ENTHUSIASTICALLY. When I tried to get her to dunk herself in the river and clean up a bit, she looked at me funny, like I was trying to ruin her gorgeous new coif.

A young minister had just got out of the seminary, got his first church, and was preaching his first sermon. In the seminary, they had taught him that if he forgot something, just back up and repeat what he had said, and maybe it would come back to him. He started out with a quote, "Behold, I cometh....." but he couldn't remember the rest of it. So he tries to regain his composure, backs up a starts again... "Behold I cometh..." but he still couldn't remember. So he rears back and shouts again, "Behold I cometh! ..." but this time he trips over the pulpit and falls right into the lap of a little old lady sitting the front row! He was embarrassed and started apologizing, but before he could finish the woman muttered... "It isn't your fault sonny - you told me you were coming three times... I should have moved!"

10 Ways to tell if a Redneck has been working on a Computer*
10. The monitor is up on blocks.*
9. Outgoing faxes have tobacco stains on them.*
8. The six front keys have rotted out.*
7. The extra RAM ports have truck parts stored in them.*
6. The numeric keypad only goes up to six.*
5. The password is "Bubba".*
4. There's a gun rack mounted on the CPU.*
3. There's a Coors can in the cup holder(CD-ROM drive).*
2. The keyboard is camouflaged.AND the number 1 way to tell if a redneck has been working on a computer is...*
1. The mouse is referred to as a "critter".

A flippin sweet, groovy Halloween

The photo with 5 adorable urchins includes 3 neighbors. The blonde flower child is me at work, where I got 3rd place prize, a 10.00 Starbucks card. I am standing next to the 1st prize winner, a slim, young blonde woman who dressed up as a hilarious, fat, OLD woman. I could NOT stop laughing! Second place was a chap who dressed up as a shower!! I guess the inspiration comes from Karate Kid. Does Napoleon look familiar?

Entirely on a different subject, the housecleaning work looks like a non-reality, but another window was opened, an answer to prayer, in the nick of time. An opportunity at work arose for a handful of us to stay like 2 1/2 extra hours per night to process extra work. If we commit to the 5 months of this work, at the end, we get a nice bonus!! (Shh, it's a secret from the other employees). And that's on top of the extra pay for staying late. Thank you, God!!

Will I be trick or treating in my costume? No, but I expect to reap without raising my sickle. Why? The children have been instructed to tithe on their chocolate! They seem to instinctively do this anyway. :D This morning, some very cool neighbor secretly left a small bucket of candy and a note saying that we had been "Boo-ed." It said, "Boo! To our good friends on our street: Our homes' locations made us meet. You now have been boo'd, but who could we be? We'll never tell, it's a secret you see. We placed these goodies for you and yours then we ran fast after knocking the door. Happy Halloween! Place this boo on your front door and make sure you boo two neighbors of yours!" Isn't that cute?! Kinda like a Halloween May basket thing. I was touched. It's not often that you experience random acts of fun kindness. It was hand colored with cute pictures on it. Oh, and without being told, my well-trained Zoe pulled out the 2 chocolate bars in there and matter-of-factly put them on the nightstand! Yay!!

Our cat has kind of been given a nickname of "Helping Verb." I was helping Zach with his grammar. We've been going over subjects and verbs, helping verbs, etc.. He was supposed to copy from his book the verb phrase in a sentence, such as, "had been hoping," but he kept leaving the helping verbs off. So, I told him to stop leaving the helping verbs out in the cold, scratching at the door and meowing to come in. He burst out laughing, and for the rest of the day, I'd hear the kids say, "The helping verb wants to come in!" or "Is that helping verb I see curled up over there?" It's interesting in teaching, what you can come up with spur of the moment to help make a point. In explaining simple subject vs. complete subject, I would say that complete subject is the simple subject with all its jewelry. For example, "Fluffy white clouds" is the complete subject. I explained that "fluffy" and "white" were like the cloud's earrings and necklace, and that if you took them away, you were left with a simple subject. You wouldn't believe how much of this stuff I was rusty on. It feels good for a word nerd like myself to brush up on this stuff in the process of teaching! I am very impressed with Rod and Staff, by the way. CHALLENGING AND COMPREHENSIVE!!

Q: Did you hear about the new breed in pet shops?A: They crossed a pit bull with a collie; it bites your leg off and goes for help.

I am going to be a hippy for Halloween. I got my whole costume at a thrift store. You'll have to wait till next week to see pics. My long, flowing dress and long, flowing hair and platform patchwork leather boots are really quite something! And don't forget accessories!!

Today was unseasonably warm--upper 60s. We were all in Heaven!

New English books came for Zach and Jess yesterday--Rod and Staff. We've been limping along, but now we have some real meaty and complete language arts! Yay! Got some preschool stuff for Will, too.

Interviewed in Seattle today to do independent contractor housecleaning work--my area, my choice of days and hours. It was through a housecleaning referral agency. Money good. Have to jump through some more hoops and do a second interview before I can start making dough.

We went to the punkin patch with Byma (Grandma) today. The weather was quite nice, and the kids had no school. At Scholz farm, you can see donkeys, chickens, goats, pigs, and sheep! There is a corn maze, and Zoe is playing miniature golf with a club made out of a stick and a child's boot!!! We got punkins and apples, and later, most of my family and quite a few neighbor kids threw the football around in the yard. It was unexpected and really fun.

Easy dinner ideas I implemented this week:

Boil some top ramen and broccoli together in water till cooked. Drain, add seasoning packets, and stir in 3 stirred eggs, and some scallions. Give it a bit of soy sauce. Kid friendly, cheap, tasty. You could also put in diced ham or chicken or skip the egg.

The other one which was easy and delicious and heartier (with a fabulous gravy) was to take a 4-6 lb chuck roast, put it in a foil lined 13 x 9 pan. Mix a package of onion soup mix and a can of mushroom soup together and smear over meat. Fold foil over and seal. Bake 4-6 hours. (I had a 6 pounder and cooked it for 6 hrs, and it was good). Serve with Costco's delicious, time saving instant mashed potatoes, and fancy green beans. Don't forget to make a gravy out of all the drippings. I poured and scraped all the drippings into a 2 cup measuring cup. I filled with water up to the 2 cup line. Placed in saucepan, brought to boil, added 2 T cornstarch mixed with maybe 1/4 or 1/3 cup water and some salt. Muy delicioso!!!

On my homepage, among top news is listed: "Ohio student gunman had mental problems. OH REAAALLLYYYY?!?

On a sign near my house, "Heck is where the people go who don't believe in Gosh"!! That is the first sign to make me laugh in many months at that place.

I took the kiddos to Dash Point Sunday, but it was pouring rain, and the tide was ALL THE WAY IN, so we didn't stay too long. Twas fun while it lasted.

This morning, first thing I did after getting up was to make William cocoa, as usual. I should have had my coffee first, because I literally started dumping cocoa into a cup of juice on the counter instead of the cup I had got for him. When he discovered this FELONY he definitely SQUAWKED! That had been HIS JUICE.

Fresh drivel

Deep thoughts: Whether a Mom works outside the home (or not), homeschools(or not), it seems we find ways of getting ourselves in up to our eyeballs in responsibility, toil, chores, children, errands, life. Am I wrong? Can I get an Amen? I know y'all are kicking it up a notch now that September is here. Thanks for coming up for air for a second to post. That's what I'm doing now, too...with my corndog. my quarter of a leftover burger, and my fatigue, at 1:50 AM.

Today was a very productive homeschool day, although I did have to take a wee crying/praying break, and there was some yelling. This is not extremely untypical. (Your eyebrows are up, and my hair is down--what there is of it). But it was still productive. We're trying to get into a groove, take on all of our subjects gradually. We congregate in the living room with the gas fireplace. We spread our papers and books out and often only get as far as stacking them when done. (As opposed to bringing them back downstairs into the file cabinet). Someone usually sits in front of the fireplace with it on if they're cold. And it certainly is getting darker earlier and cooler. All of a sudden. The extra stress has been congregating in my neck, back, and shoulders, but a piping hot bath last night really cut the discomfort in half.

Dinner tonight was:

Brown pork chops in oil. When mostly done, remove from pan, and add chopped shallots or onion, and garlic. Cook for a few minutes. Add 1 cup of stock (I made beef bouillion from the powder) and a tablespoon tomato paste or a few cut up Roma tomatoes. It will foam up. Turn down and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Add some green beans to this and cook till 3/4 done. ( I thawed the frozen ones). Return chops onto the top of beans and cover till beans are done. I served it with Costco instant mashed potatoes, but what I really wanted was corn bread stuffing. Fragrant, simple, tasty. The sauce reduces with the 10 minutes of cooking, and if you bring the skillet to the table as is, it is an attractive presentation. I got this from a book by an Italian immigrant who was an enthusiastic gardener and very interesting man.

Nums from my kitchen to yours

Eek!!! Zach is now 5' 7 1/2" tall!!!!! Only an inch and a half to go till he catches up with me. So, by tomorrow, I'm guessing.

A basic, but tasty and economical meal you can make in the crockpot or stovetop:

Chuckwagon Beef

1 lb ground beef
1 16 oz can diced tomatoes
1 green pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
cooked riced--1 1/2 cups or more (1/2 cup or more RAW if using crockpot)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp basil
dash pepper
Crockpot--Place all ingredients in crockpot; stir thoroughly. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours. (Usually I end up starting these things late and have to do them on high for less time) If on stovetop, brown ground beef and onion. Don't drain. :) Meanwhile, cook rice. When beef is just about done, add pepper, tomatoes, and spices. When rice is done, add to mixture, stir, and let simmer for awhile, maybe 15 minutes or so, so flavors can meld, but you're not overcooking the pepper.

People are occasionally using the volleyball net, after all. Even I did, and I was impressed at how magnanimous I was (hey, I should be impressed. I am naturally quite stingy, selfish, antisocial and more!) to welcome all ages and abilities. Remember inwardly groaning when you wanted a great game, but very small children wanted to partake?
The Sasquatch photo is a recent siting. Actually, on Labor Day, the fam and the Mother-in-law all traveled over the bridge to the Port Orchard property to get another gander. It is covered in vegetation and hard to really see. So Chris, Zach, and even moi hacked a path with a very dull machete down to the "roaring" creek. It was very audible, and was our eager goal. After an hour of hacking, sweating, swatting bugs, the small creek was visible. Later that night, I was alarmed to find a large bruise on my wrist. I hadn't injured it, nor did it even hurt. I felt a little nauseous, and was sure I had been bitten or stung by a nasty bug. I was scouring the internet, feeling worried. The fam prayed for me. The "bruise" faded fast, and I have not felt anything else untoward. Thank God!!
After the property, we stopped by the shore, where William is ambling. Zach found a tiny lizard which he had never seen before. It was very fast and nobody else would have ever noticed it, but of course he caught it. I picked a quart of blackberries and made crisp a few hours later. I love free fruit!!
The dark photo is Zach and Jessie on their first day of school. They decided to get crazy about drawing and art this week, which was unexpected and very cool. I had purchased this instructional book several years ago called Drawing With Children which we dragged out and started delving into again. This first week has gone pretty well. I am feeling my way along, praying a lot, doing a lot of research, being as organized and planning and flexible and disciplined and realistic and guilt-free as possible. I ordered some Math-U-See for Jessie. She has struggled with math for a long time, and I had to start her with math years below her grade level. (I bought what the placement pretest indicated)This bothers me, but it can't be helped. We aim to catch up eventually. After hours of looking, I found this really cool early American crafts kit from HandsandHearts.com. It has about a dozen things to do, like dip candles, make a quill pen, drink brick tea (not sure what that is). We are continuing the New Adventures in Learning unit study from last year. He is at the Revolutionary years stage, so that is where we are for history/social studies. I started The Light and the Glory for Kids as a review. I need to order grammar, but that will have to wait. In the meantime, I am burning up my printer with free worksheets!!!

Today:

Was beautiful--about 85 degrees.

Zach caught 3 crayfish, 2 tiny trout, and a salamander for his tank. They are so cool looking. The crayfish, which he has never had as pets before, looked like miniature lobsters.

Nobody used the saggy, ancient volleyball net that Zach and I laboriously put up yesterday, sweating buckets all the while, and taking forever, making many dumb mistakes, including Zach pounding the ball down the bank into the brush. Just because you "build it" doesn't mean "they" (as in skilled players) will come.

William the strong-willed, the shouter, the defiant, is quickly and beautifully adjusting to my speaking quieter, being more patient, training him better with a few things I read about child training by the Pearls (Debbie and somebody).

Researched more about homeschool English, grammar, and writing. Still need to decide and order.

Met Zoe's 4th grade teacher and saw her classroom at open house.

I saw a shooting star at 12:30 a.m. from my beautiful, moonlight deck. And heard curious bugs and a frog. The sky was clear, and the stars lovely.

Free Windy!!

My dog was born free and likes to run free. Don't tell me , "Your dog needs to be on a leash." Them's fightin' words. Who do you think you are, you superior, uptight, hoity toity runner/biker/walker? Or "Hi, I'm with the Foothill Trails Coalition. The signs say clearly, 'All animals need to be on a leash at all times.' Can I have your name? Can I have your name? (Silence) Okay." Because, I will stare at you, I will stare at you icily and will not answer. I will just barely not say, "Bite me". I will not apologize, and I will most certainly not give you my name!!!!!! My dog has enough energy to light up my neighborhood, if only I could figure out how to harness it. I am doing my arm and my dog a favor by letting her off her leash on paved trails, WHEN HARDLY ANYONE IS AROUND; and she is as gentle and dumb as a lamb, doesn't chase people or hardly even balls and sticks. You should get a life and understand, and look the other way. And have leash law amnesia. Me and my dog, and my misuse of grammar by saying "me and my dog" should be excused, just because I am so incredibly special and unique and want it that way. You are not the boss of me. As long as I don't find a fine in my mail box or windshield.

I don't know why my links list shows only 3 names visibly. The rest, you have to scroll over. INFURIATING, it is, to be in the dark on this maddening mystery. Suggestions?

Yesterday I took the kids to the river again, since it was actually a summery day. There were also 2 extra boys, friends of Zach's. They all brought their fishing poles and tried to catch bass, but only got tiny rockfish (that's what Zach calls them, anyway) to bite. I brought a book, but, really, when you're at a river and the sun is shining, it feels good to just sit and stare and be blinded by the sun on the water, doesn't it? I built a few pathetic stone pillars, and made everybody check out this paved walking/biking trail very nearby cuz I was really bored after awhile. Will was thirsty, and we were out of beverages, so I told him the blackberries that grew along the side of the trail were "blackberry juice balls", and that made them more interesting. He actually ate them after that! We saw a cool yellow frog, pretty good-sized, in a mucky pond. Everyone, including me, gets pretty excited about frogs. Zach is the original frog whisperer, or at least, frog catcher/handler.
Today was a very busy and diligent day of sorting through accumulated, unorganized junk to put in my new old file cabinet (yay for Craigslist!!). I threw away a bunch of junk, started a bunch of files, and ended up unexpectedly attacking Zach's messy lair. It was very bad, but it's groovy now. I corralled him and made him finish it. He also had to wash my car for free for disobediently leaving his clothes everywhere, clean and unclean, despite being told 2,006 times that that is what dressers, hampers, and closets are for. I just bought him some new pants cuz I thought he was so freaking desperate, and then we clean his room and discover 1 dirty pair in the closet, another good pair with a missing button in his drawer, and there may have been more. He really didn't have any room for clothes in his dresser because it's full of stuff--boy treasures. Snips and snails and puppy dog tails and all that. Found the missing math book, though, thank God. It was under the full junk box on the floor. Been wanting that for 2 months. He was supposed to do math through the summer, but the book got "lost."
Had hamburger barley vegetable soup for dinner. And my good buddy Liz at work only has 5 more days and then she quits. I am jealous and sad to lose her.

Viva la cheese and chocolate, blemishes be darned!!

Is there anything more comforting than a cheese sandwich--grilled or otherwise? Makes one think of elementary school lunch in the cafeteria--a hug from Mom from home whilst one braves the big ol' world of school. A fudgesicle chaser is another hug...from one's self for having braved another day. :)

i write wateva i like...

Has anyone ever clicked on "Next Blog" repeatedly just to see what will happen? English, Spanish, Russian, blogs is what I get. I did find one really interesting blog about literature, with lots of great quotes. And then I got to this young Asian girl's that I have to share, exactly what I saw at the top right of her blog. Enjoy. I copied everything precisely--spelling, capitalization. etc.

"if U dun like this page..Fine!
Just leave it!!..Dun waste ur time Here
Write ur real name to Tag me..
No CopyCaters
Dun juDge me if ur not God!
coz i write my feeling here..
i write wateva i like anyway...
if u wanna write ur feeling,u can write here too...
TAG ME Enjoy my blog..."

Does anyone know the Ms. Swan skit? "He...looka like a man...."

After much thought and consideration and prayer, I have decided to take Jessie on board to homeschool in a few weeks. Zoe--not at this time. I got some, inspirational, confirmational, lovely Bible verses in response to my diligent inquiries of God about whether I should go for it. Still, I am nervous about the work load. It's funny, when school ended, I seemed to check out of extra toil and thought, and sleep as much as possible for 2 straight months. Now, all of a sudden, I'm ready to be a zealous, diligent, overworked, organized dynamo. This really shocks me. The break was so great. The inertia so complete. But I truly have a sense of great purpose and urgency taking on another child to home school.

What's new? I got a bold new hair cut--short and asymmetrical. She actually screwed it up. I asked for Victoria Beckham but got half Victoria( I flatter myself there) and half Reba MacEntire. A week later, the tortured misery has finally started to ease. Some people have complimented, some have looked away with a smirk, some have studied without saying anything. Yes, I am vain, and disappointed. I was actually really depressed for days. But I am getting the hang of making it look as cute as possible with my thin locks and long neck.

So...we are probably going to move next spring to a house my Dad is going to build. That's what it looks like so far. Our current one might have a for sale sign up soon, and if it sells before the other is built, we'd have to rent.

Should I be bold and crazy and homeschool all the kids next month? That'd be stupid, right? And hasty? With me barely able to spare 5 minutes straight for 1 kid for anything many days.

How do I know what's right? Or do I just say, again, the girls will have to wait till a more opportune time, like hopefully, next year. One of the hopes for moving would be that we could live there on one income, which would dramatically change my homeschooling capabilities.

This is the last week day of my 2 week vacation. I am in a pleasant, nearly comatose state of peace and rest. And indolence. All the knots have been worked out. My skin and back and mind and organs are RELAXED. If you did an MRI reading of my brain on this last day of vacation, you would see very little activity. The brain cells and stressed cells are sitting on the beach with little umbrella drinks soaking up the sun.

It's been pretty rainy all week. Yesterday and a few other days, I've spent hours working on my 9 patch feed sack quilt. That thing SOAKS UP TIME!!! But I put my new old sewing machine and new old lamp on my unfinished desk in a spot in my room. It's very satisfying to have a legitimate, if humble and starving student-looking, setup. Of course, it's hard not to have fabric all over the floor and bed and ironing board and dresser....

Last night, after everybody was tucked in, I lounged on the couch and unaccustomly watched a bunch of TV. I did the dishes at 1:15 a.m., which was when I good and felt like it.

On my way to and fro, going by Will's room, I was wondering why I smelled something uriney coming from that direction. My Nancy Drew sleuthing quickly led me to, brace yourself, the floor heat vent. Yeahhhhh.......how convenient for a little boy to have in-floor "plumbing" in his room. Do you know how hard it is to clean up that kind of thing? I would have loved to have poured soapy water down that vent to flush it, but I figure that would be quite wrong. And then the carpet and pad right around and under the edge of the vent, where you can lift it off was soaked in urine concentrate. Febreeze has been my friend for quite awhile. I ended up taking the sprayer off and POURING IT ALL AROUND that edge. And when some went down the hatch, not a bad thing. Yes, I did this in the wee hours. When I talked to him about it this morning, he said he had seen Windy and Max (dog and cat) using it. (He was very smooth with this ready explanation. We are not politicians. "I don't recall....") And no, I didn't spank him, but last night, it sounded really tempting. But we had a real GOOD CHAT.

SWIMMIN' HOLE!!!

We took William's training wheels off his first 2 wheel bike this weekend! They were already bent upwards, so he was barely utilizing them, except around corners. He adjusted immediately. We were SO PROUD, and so was he!! I should have a picture, but don't.

Sunday evening, when I was supposed to be reading him stories, he ended up "reading" his small green New Testament to ME! He told me some very interesting stories about God and Jesus. He just laid there with that small Bible, upside down, earnestly spinning parables and stories for my benefit. It seems like he kept using the phrase, "...Jesus went to get some food." He was enormously proud that he was such a good reader. I wanted to write down everything or record it, it was just too precious.

Yesterday, I bought a used sewing machine in Tacoma off of Craigslist for 35.00. It is an '88 model. Seems fine. Now I can quilt in my own house (instead of relying on my Mom's machine)!

Go see Nancy Drew

What a great weekend! Friday night, I went to the Abbey ballroom for their 7-8 pm lesson. (I went to work right afterward--15 min. away) Chris was supposed to go with me, but didn't end up able to. So he encouraged me to go by myself. That was a little scary, but I did. It was pretty exciting. It was a foxtrot lesson. The ballroom is actually in an old church with stained glass windows. It was a packed house with mostly young couples wanting to learn how to dance. The women did outnumber the men. When I didn't have a partner, I just held up my arms like there was one and did the moves. This was more challenging than the introductory course at Arthur Murray, because it was a large group, and the instructor had us going in a counterclockwise circle all together. No one stepped on me, but I probably stepped on other peoples' heels 5 times. I am not kidding. It's harder than it looks to stay in a circle and not mow people down or end up in the center. Hopefully Chris will make it this next Friday--that's the plan, and it'll be tango!!

Last night, we did something really different and really fun! We took our whole family and 4 EXTRA KIDS to the drive in theater about 40 minutes away in Auburn. I made a junk food and drink run to Safeway, and Evan Almighty started about 9:30. After that was Nancy Drew. We brought Chris's truck and the explorer. We got chilly, but had blankets and all crowded together in the backs of both vehicles. Everybody was SO EXCITED!! Evan Almighty was really a cute movie. Funny and reverent enough, in my opinion. Nancy Drew I didn't expect to get into at all, but I fell in love with Nancy herself. I felt a real kinship/kindred spirit thing with her. She is this classy teenager, very wholesome, dressed in 60's garb, in a modern day setting. She even goes to a modern crazy high school, where she is a brainy, non-conforming, non-fitting in anomaly. She never gets a modern makeover. A couple of very fashion conscious teen classmates attempt to take her shopping and get a "decent outfit." But when they take her to this boutique, and she arrives in this classy timeless dress and some conservative shoes, the shop woman gushes about her look, asks her where she got the dress. She replies that she MADE IT FROM HER MOTHER'S PATTERN!!! The shop girl takes her pic and it gets published in something or other with an article! So she doesn't change or dumb down. It was one of the most darndest refreshing and affirming-to-wholesome-girlhood movies I have seen in a long time. Like a tall drink of cold water in this desert of a culture. Two thumbs up, way up!!!!

Spit Spot!!

I suggested to William at dinner that he clean up his room. Of course he deflated a bit at that comment. A good 5 minutes went by, and he said he thought we needed to move to a new house. (We've been here 5 mos now). When I asked him why, he said it was because our house was all messy!!! I had actually spent some energy cleaning it, and his room was the main messy one! He didn't request help, or Mary Poppins, but MOVING. Why didn't I think of that?!

I had a nightmare I looked like Courtney Love. NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

Maybe I didn't know what I was afraid of...till my subconscious reminded me in a strange dream this morning. I had to get up early to get Zach to his berry picking job, and went back to sleep for a bit after breakfast. When he called me to pick him up, he interrupted my "nightmare." And what would the "nightmare" of a 34-year-old mother of 4 be? I was at work, going through the hall to the cafeteria for my break, when what should I see roaming my way....a polar bear!!! I quickly stepped into the restroom, breathing shallow and ragged with fear as I told 2 coworkers what I had seen. But I forgot all about the coworkers and the bear when I saw an even scarier thing in the mirror: my pale, fearful face topped with bleached blonde hair and 1 inch dark roots. It looked trashy and hideous on me, and was far scarier than the bear. HOW DID THIS HAPPEN!!! ALL WRONG FOR MY SKIN TONE!!!! NOT THE MESSAGE I WANT TO CONVEY!!!!! (Can you believe this retardation and shallowness and vanity?!)

This is probably a strange, unusual post written very late....

It is 2:00 a.m., and I am eating my third piece of bread and butter after work, in the quiet house, doing my usual perusingofblogsafterwork. Yeah, that Self.com diet challenge was great...for 3 days...till I got hungry...and tired of spending all that time calculating and recording. Go, carbs!!!!!!

Does anyone else have to work really hard to stay afloat in this life, or at least appear to be? Sheesh! If only I could just say what kinds of things I deal with and struggle with and overcome.......

The weather has been a bit uptight--not very summery. We took my Mother-in-law to Olive Garden on Father's Day. The food was very hot and good. I'd post a pic, but my camera phone doesn't want to cooperate in the email category. Maybe I'm not really set up. It acts like its sending, but I guess it's just lying. My pictures are stuck in there. I tried sending them to Flickr, but that didn't work either. As Kristi said, we went to their grand new house Saturday. A delightful house and meal and family. Kristi and I did some easy crossword puzzles, which was gratifying, since we were able to get most if not all the answers together. And have some great laughs.

Tomorrow, Zach is going to start picking raspberries here in the valley for money. Only a few hours a day. But he has to be there in 5 stinkin hours!
I'm going to go to bed like a good girl.

Do you need to hear "I love you"? Well, heck, I love you, ok?!

Will has underwear, a davy crockett hat, and a helmet on.
Superman HQRAT is what Will called the one of himself in the red hat. Windy the dog decided to stop being a nudist. And there's one of el tigre libre, our junior lucho libre Mexican fighter. The bike one has my mother-in-law on the back. There's one of Jessica's 11th b-day, and Zoe on that same day on her scooter. And Zach on some kind of cardboard stilts.

Chris and I had our second ballroom lesson of our 3 lesson introductory package. Words cannot express how much joy and delight I got from it. I do believe I am now hooked forever. We did a group waltz lesson. The first time we went over the foxtrot and rumba. I have this old record of Arthur Murray dance songs that you can tango, waltz, merengue, etc. to, and I think I am going to wear it out. And now I am going to have to buy the movie that started it all: Shall We Dance. Peace and love out!

If cats are cool, then labs are hyper dorks. The contrast between Max our cat and Windy our dog is really something. Max wears dark glasses and a leather jacket. He's too cool for school. Windy can not come in the house after a potty outing without absolutely BARRELLING up the stairs like "Teddy Roosevelt" in Arsenic and Old Lace. Like it's a contest. A race. Like there is a T-bone reward in the kitchen for having made water on the grass. She wears her heart on her sleeve. She's pretty dumb. Can barely accomplish chasing a ball. And she's strong. Has unflagging zeal. Always. You have to psyche yourself up to walk her. Max brought a delicate shrew to the back porch during the night. Windy brings sturdy shoes from God only knows where in the neighborhood.

Current mood: Whatever.

Newest favorite thing: Sitting outside on our 2nd story deck at the new patio table, which we got for a steal. Now that the weather's nice, I'm eating all my meals out there. It's pretty much the best deck in the neighborhood, I think. Thanks, Dad!! I went over the top and put potted plants on the ground, fake hibiscus flowers winding up the umbrella, lights (Christmas--shhh) winding up the umbrella, and cute little candle lanterns on the table. I also got a gardenia plant for the table, which smells so amazing. If I can just keep it alive. Last night, it was really fun to be out there after dark with all the lights and candles. I had music playing, and the kids and I stayed up late just having a goofy time. I also painted mine and the girls' nails blood red. Oh my!!! I never do that color cuz it's so obnoxious, but it matched my new dress so well, and since I couldn't find a new necklace for it yet....

Something ghastly to try: Pop a bunch of popcorn. Don't salt it. Stir together and boil 1/2 cup sugar and 1 c. corn syrup. Stir in a 3 oz package of flavored jello. Pour this over the popcorn and mix. When it has cooled a little, shape into balls. Don't leave this in the pan, it turns to cement. Also, seal up any leftovers cuz it does get stale. We did peach, which is somewhat ghastly but kind of addictive nevertheless. I wonder how koolaid would do instead of jello?

Good thing: Zach finally got a walkie talkie set so we can be in touch when he's out on his many forest excursions.

Thanks for commenting, Penny. I don't have the strength to post anew till I get some love!! Smirk, smirk. I knew SOMEONE must love Bean!

Seven facts, you say?

1. Chris is willing to join me for ballroom dance lessons Saturday.

2. One of the most pleasurable things in my life is taking walks on the rural trails near my house where I encounter not a soul--I really believe this is a gift from God cuz He knew how much I love it.

3. I am on vacation all this week, and I have no ambitions of any kind.

4. I have been at Key Bank exactly 7 years. (And I'd like to leave it at 7 and not go back Tuesday).

5. We made a commitment to tithe regularly again, and right after I wrote the check, I found out I had overpaid on car insurance for February and the amount I didn't have to pay this month was almost the exact amount of the tithe.

6. For Zach's birthday present, the Grandparents and I got him a day at the zoo where he gets to be a "Keeper for a Day" and do animal caretaking behind the scenes.

7. We have tons of cottonwood "cotton" flying all over the place, and this morning, above our house, I saw what looked like a parasailer--but it looked like he was sitting in a go cart.

I have to tag seven more people, who in turn have to list 7 facts about themselves? Some of these might overlap with Penny's, so maybe that means they only list the facts once no matter how many times they get tagged? I tag Liane, Karena, Janelle, Jill, Lindsey, Brad, and Nate.

You like flied lice? Have I got recipe for you!! Two dinner combos I made this week you might like to try. You can call them partly homemade. Tonight, we had Rice a Roni fried rice served along side of [storebought] meatballs cooked in thick Teriyaki sauce and spinach salad. I would not have thought that one up at all, but it was good! I recommend halving the amount of spice mix in the Rice a Roni, though. This meal was really salty. The other one was sliced, fried kielbasa sausage served with packaged au gratin potatoes and, actually, spinach salad again (I have a big bag). I think, in retrospect, a cabbage salad or coleslaw would have been excellent.

"I never knew ...that everyone I knew was waiting on a queue..." Do you feel like you're waiting on a cue/queue? To be less shy, more loving, let people in, reveal yourself, connect, just do it, go for it, let the people you like know you dig them, let down your guard, let down your hair, wave, say hi and then some, write that letter, mail that application, invite that family, get that haircut, clean out that corner, eat that salad, take that walk, tell that kid about life and love and truth and work and God.....I need cues for all these things. This life is not a dress rehearsal, but I live as if it was, mostly.

I got my first manicure today, and I am almost 35. I guess I have joined the world of women. It only cost 14.00. Good thing I saved up and waited all these years. I got a very pale, subtle, clear lavender. Now my nails seem dressed, like putting lip stick on before leaving the house. My nails are not "nakes" any more. I like this. How can you not like your forearms and hands massaged with fruity lotion, as well. Yay!!! I have tried to keep pushing my cuticles back, but the chap at the nail place actually trimmed the more abundant ones. Oh!! That makes a difference!

I made some authentic Oaxacan tacos this weekend. You slice sirloin thin and fry it up in oil till done but not overdone. You take a corn tortilla and soften it in the pan with a little oil. Put the meat in the tortilla, add raw onion (or you could cook some up with the meat), cilantro, and a squeeze of lime. That's the authentic recipe. Of course, the kids forewent (is that a word?) that lite version in favor of added cheese, ranch, etc.

My Mother-in-law said this was the best Mother's Day ever cuz she got to ride on the back of Chris's motorcycle. She is 64, doesn't drive or have a car, and she begged to get on. I haven't even gotten on. We got a kick out of that. I'm pretty sure she still feels like a mischievous teenager on the inside. I did take pics, but I haven't put them on the computer yet.

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

Thank you, blogger, for screwing up my other blog so I have to start a new, better one. I can't access my old one anymore. Grand.

Started Self.com's get healthy/fit/lose weight challenge. If you want to join, you can be my buddy, keep track of exercise and food intake, and we can even leave each other messages. Goal--20 lbs OFF MY MIDDLE. Just say no to spare tires.