Simple Woman's Daybook Entry

Outside my window... Duke, our visiting dog (see last daybook entry), is running laps around the backyard.  He continues to be a very good house guest - we will miss him when he goes home on Tuesday.  I don't think, however, I will miss him lifting his leg and peeing on my tomato plants.  Now I remember why I only have female dogs...

I am thinking... about a terrific article I read on using Positive Activity Interventions to help you work through depression.  Here they are, in no particular order:

• writing letters of gratitude
• counting one's blessings
• meditating on positive feelings toward others
• using signature strengths
• practicing optimism
• performing acts of kindness

I am thankful... (see?  Already starting...)  for good friends.  Several months ago one of my bookclub members moved to my neighborhood - just a couple of streets away.   Last night she had a bbq, and I loaded up the stroller and walked over with Rylan, Owen, Colin.  We had such a good time - the food was awesome!  It was nice to have a plan for the evening, since Dean and Jordan were gone on a campout with the scout troop.  It makes me wish that neighborhood bbqs were a regular occurrence.  I may have to come out of my introverted shell and organize one.

From the Learning Rooms... We spent last week wrapping up summer for Jordan and preparing for the scout campout.  Lots of playdates and very little 'learning'.  Jordan leaves on Wednesday for Oklahoma.  I am ready to jump in with both feet with Rylan - full blown Kindergarten schedule will commence on Wednesday.  Yeah!!!  I also need to prepare Jordan's NOI (Notice of Intent) for this year.  I always send it mid-August.  A new twist this year - it will include Jordan's testing results from the Spring, so it won't be just the standard update file and print thing.  I will not be filing one for Rylan - she is only five, and even though she will technically be a Kindergartner, I don't have to notify until she is six years old.

In the kitchen...  Last night I made a pasta salad for the bbq.  Very easy.  Tri-color rotini, quartered cherry tomatoes, very small cubes of pepperjack cheese and about half a bottle of Caesar salad dressing. 

I am wearing... nightgown.  Standard early Sunday morning dress code!

I am creating...  a beautiful ceramic pasta bowl! Here is my finished product!!

Before firing...

After... 

I used a bowl design I found on the web (I googled ceramic bowls) as my inspiration, so the design isn't uniquely mine.  I chose it because I suck at detail work - large, simple shapes are hard to mess up!

I am going... to a family gathering this afternoon.  My grandmother and great aunts are hosting a dessert party as a way to bring together the family while my cousin and her daughter (who is the same age as Rylan) are in town from Florida, and my other cousin (her brother) and his partner are in town from Seattle.  The last time we were all together (well, most of us anyway), was two years ago, when, again, my cousin and her daughter were visiting.   I greet this event with a great amount of trepidation - for reasons I may or may not post about later. 

I am wondering...  what this afternoon will bring.  I may just retreat and spend the time in my grandmother's garden.  My happy place for my introverted self.

I am reading... Watermelon by Marian Keyes. Still. I haven't cracked a book in over a week.

I am hoping... that today goes well.  That my children behave and don't add to my already burgeoning discomfort.  I already have two strikes against me... boatloads of sugar and missing afternoon naptime.  Sh!t.

I am looking forward to... about an hour from now I will pick up Dean and Jordan from their weekend scout campout.  When I was tucking in Rylan last night, she said "I can't wait until tomorrow.  I've really missed 'those boys'".  Me too.

I am hearing... the neighbor using a jackhammer to break apart his old concrete patio.  Owen and Colin fighting over a wagon.  Rylan asking for applesauce over and over again like a broken record.  Adele, singing Rolling In the Deep.  Which one of these things is not like the other??

Around the house... Washing and drying Rylan's porcelain tea set to take to the party this afternoon.  My way of helping Rylan and her cousin connect since they don't really know each other.

I am pondering... why I set up such massive mental roadblocks about past hurts.  It just makes getting over it and moving on that much harder.

One of my favorite things...  is working in the garden.  I spent an hour pruning and weeding my tomatoes yesterday, as the kids played in the sprinklers, and it was truly wonderful.  It is one of the few activities that can take me to a Zen-like state.  I think of nothing else but the task at hand.

A few plans for the rest of the week... pack Jordan for a six-week stay in Oklahoma.  Finish up the last four swim lessons of the season for Rylan and Owen.  Start schoolwork in earnest with Rylan.  Prepare for camping next weekend.  And oh yeah... celebrate my 40th birthday next Monday.  Uugh.

Here is a picture for thought I am sharing...

Hangin' out at the pool..

New haircut.  Short and sassy.

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