Sunday, February 24, 2013

Simple Woman's Daybook Entry

 
 
Outside my window... Snow! And LOTS of it. Most of it is blowing sideways right now... We are supposed to get around 6 -12 inches, but the garden beds are already partially buried because of the wind. We live on a corner lot, and because of the way we are situated, when the snow is accompanied with wind, it whips around the front of the house and we get a nice 3-4 ft drift up against the garage door, yet the bottom of the driveway is mostly swept clean. I conveniently forget this fact, and since I am always running late, whenever we load up the car to dash out of the house, I raise the garage door to find the drift waiting for me and I have to dig us out before we can go anywhere. It's sad that it ends up being a 'surprise' every time. Maybe that is the gift of a terrible memory... life is continually full of surprises!

I am thinking... About how grateful I am for the snow. We have had hardly any snow - just a piddly dusting here and there. I love me a big whoppin' storm. (Well, as long as we have plenty of food, diapers and toilet paper...)

I am thankful... Okay I just said I was thankful for the snow, so now I have to think of something else. I am thankful for all of the good things that have entered our life lately... that update will be on my other blog - My 2 cents.

From the Learning Rooms... I am officially in love with Homeschool Skedtrack. It has made our life so much easier. Rylan has finished all 120 lessons of Reading Eggs, and has moved on to Reading Eggspress - which is just too cool for words. It is like having an entire library at our fingertips - fiction, nonfiction, all broken down by genre and reading level, complete with comprehension questions at the end of every book. LOVE THAT. Rylan is studying the water cycle, Jordan is researching different galaxy formations and creating some artwork with that, and Owen is finally showing some interest in working with letter sounds. Did I mention that I suspect he is a lefty? That might explain some things....

In the kitchen... Today has C*H*I*L*I written all over it..

I am wearing... Thermal pj's and my robe.

I am creating... A huge pile of shredded paper as I (finally) shred documents from 2004 and 2005. Does that count?

I am going... Thankgoodness we have nowhere to go today!

I am wondering...How on earth do birds stay warm and sheltered when it snows like this?

I am reading... Got two books going right now - Voyager by Diana Gabaldon, and The Year of Learning Dangerously by Quinn Cummings. I'm on a kick to finish the Outlander series. In the past two weeks I read Outlander and Dragonfly in Amber and so I am just going with it. I love history, so I am finding the story fascinating. The other book is about a family's experience with homeschooling. I've just started it, so I don't have a lot to say just yet.

I am hoping... That Dean won't have to drive to work tomorrow and get a work-at-home day instead.

I am looking forward to... Owen's 'birthday' on Thursday. He's a leaper, so in non-leap years we celebrate on the 28th.

I am learning... About the Jacobite Rising (due to Outlander) and other bits and pieces of Scottish history.

I am hearing... In a different sort of blogging mood today, so my musical accompaniment is one of Dean's Spotify playlists called Dubstep 2013 by Filtr Norway. I actually don't care for most of the list, but one of my favorites is Xception (Original Mix) by Starkillers & BL3ND, so I just end up playing it over, and over, and over....

Around the house... Rylan is curled up with Kitty on her lap, watching tv, Jordan is on his iPod, Colin is playing with two large paperclips and a small toy truck, Owen is sleeping in, Dean is sleeping in (or feigning it and actually playing Clash of Clans on his iPad), and Abby is curled up into a tight ball o'fur on her pillow. My goal for today is to finish up my financial recording keeping for Rylan's girl scout cookie sales, print off the Holiday letter (which is finally completed and why I can start blogging again without any guilt) and get through the last of the paper piles that have plagued our desk for at least the past six months. I have been working very, very hard on getting caught up - and it is so close now I can taste it!!

I am pondering... How deep the snow will get..

One of my favorite things... I know that it is totally bizarre, but I love the smell of Abby's paws. It's deep, earthy and complex. I give her a big hug every night before bed, and I just breathe in deep. My previous two huskies had the same sort of scent too. I don't really care for the smell of other dogs which is probably why I am reluctant to consider any other breed.

A few plans for the rest of the week... Jordan has a Court of Honor/Potluck night tomorrow night. And so it just dawned on me right now that I need to come up with something to bring foodwise, and that I have a bit of patch-sewing to do, in very short order. We have the usual activity schedule and a field trip on Thursday to the Garbage Garage (a recycling-themed classroom/museum place located adjacent to the county landfill). Thursday is also Owen's birthday, and I am planning on taking the kids to the new children's science museum in our city that just opened up a couple of months ago. I have to get his cake squared away, and figure out what else we will do that day. He is not really giving me any special requests other than that he wants a Thomas train cake and a Buzz Lightyear. On Friday Jordan will be babysitting again. Jordan has taken on a small job of babysitting for a homeschooling mom twice a month on a Friday morning. He basically gets to play Legos for three hours with a 4 year old boy and earns money by doing so - he thinks it is the most awesome deal in the Universe. On Saturday the scouts will be doing a snowshoeing/camping overnight - this snowstorm came just in time to put down an nice soft layer of deep snow for them.

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


To read more entries and visit a variety of other blogs, go here...

1 comment:

Shawn Walter said...

I devoured the Outlander books as well. Historical fiction, especialy with a fantasy twist, is some of my favorite reading. I have them all on Nook if you need to borrow them.