Simple Woman's Daybook Entry

   

Outside my window... It is 6:55 am, just minutes before the sunrise, and the birds are waking up. When I let the dog out just a short while ago I sniffed the air and it smelled nice and clean. A wildfire began yesterday, just a couple miles northwest of us. It is right in the same vicinity as where a portion of the huge fire from last summer burned, and just mere hundreds of feet from where a homeschooling friend lives. I feel bad that she (and several others, for that matter) had to evacuate - again. As far as I know, though, no structures have burned. The smoke was extremely bad all afternoon and evening yesterday, so I am hopeful that the firefighters made good progress through the night.

I am thinking... How nice it is to be up when the rest of the family is asleep, so I can write in peace. I am in such a lazy rut lately.. it is so hard to pull myself out of bed! I had to, this morning tho', to get the whites through the washer and dryer. Rylan has belt testing/promotions this afternoon, and her gi was filthy because she played in the sandbox after karate on Thursday, before changing out of her gi and into regular clothes.

I am also thinking about my mom. Today is her 69th birthday. LOVE YOU MOM! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! :) We will be celebrating with her in just a few short hours.
Today is the eighth anniversary of my first date with Dean. We went to Johnny Carino's. My spaghetti kept slipping off my fork, and to this day Dean reminds me of that every time my forkload falls to my plate before I can get it to my mouth.

I am thankful... that we have our home and each other.

From the Learning Rooms... Kinko's (a local copy shop) is becoming my new best friend. I finally got my act together and printed off the math practice sheets from both Jordan's and Rylan's remaining math lessons (there are a total of 175 in one 'year') and had all 175 spiral bound into a workbook. I passed Jordan's book to him when it was done and he was actually excited. Only a homeschool kid...

 

We just purchased a school subscription to Wordly Wise 3000 online based on a one-day special deal that Homeschool Buyer's Co-op was offering. The best 40 bucks I've spent in awhile... Jordan has completed workbooks 2 and 3 in the past, and liked it 'okay' but he is really turned off on anything that requires the physical act of writing. Last summer we had decided to pass on continuing with Wordly Wise since we were going to take up Shurley English. I am glad we are picking it up again. Vocabulary knowledge is something Jordan has continued to struggle with, so this will really help. The online version still requires a written response to the reading exercise for each lesson, so this is where Jordan can really work on his typing skills. (Which are nonexistent at this point, so I am thrilled that he gets more practice.)

In the kitchen... is a mess. But I do have hot, fresh coffee!!

I am wearing... pjs and a robe.

I am creating... a list of reasons why construction projects and food preparation should not occur in the same room, at the same time. (see previous post)

I am going... We are going to our city's St. Patrick's Day Parade this morning with my mom and my brother and his family. Then we are off to a nice lunch at a local Italian restaurant and then we have Rylan's and Jordan's belt promotions this afternoon. Then it is an evening full of sawing, hammering and most likely some cursing.

I am wondering... If it will actually rain today. The forecast calls for a 30% chance... boy I hope so. It will really help with the fire situation. Just... not during the parade.... please?

I am reading... Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon. I blew through the first three, and now I've backed off on my pace quite a bit - for no other reason than I was totally shirking anything else that needed to be done around here.

In the garden... Geez! It is almost time, isn't it? Not sure what my plan is yet this year because I know that watering restrictions will be in play this summer. I would really like to do some cool-season stuff like spinach and lettuce, so I guess I'd better do more than idly think about it.

I am hoping... That we get at least a portion of the kitchen floor done by the end of this weekend. The new fridge comes next Saturday. (We purchased it last night at Home Depot - great sale that ends on the 20th!) We already know that the cabinet that is currently above the present fridge will have to be moved upward by at least an inch to accommodate the new (bigger!) fridge.
I began physical therapy for my shoulder this week, so I hope I get some pain relief soon. This all started with my weird chest pains early last fall. We ruled out heart attack after my doctor ran an EKG, did a chest xray and I wore a heart monitor for two weeks. My heart felt like it was squeezing and I was having episodes where I felt like my heart was racing. Then it all just stopped - except for the pain. My doctor seemed convinced that I must have pulled a chest muscle at some point, and the rest was just plain ol' stress. Then the pain gradually moved upwards and outwards. The entire chest wall on my right side is now in a constant state of soreness. My pectoral muscle is tight and tender to the touch, and now my entire rotator cuff is involved. I experience occasional numbness in my right arm, I can't raise my arm above my head or reach back behind me. Carrying small children is excruciating. The pain and the number of muscles involved has been slowly increasing since the fall. It's like new muscle groups keep trying to compensate for everything else, and then they start to show the strain.

I am looking forward to... The parade! We've had to miss it for the past two years, due to karate testing. It always falls on the weekend before St.Patrick's Day, and testing times have traditionally been in the morning. They recently changed up the schedule so that adults go in the morning, followed by the kids in the afternoon. So as luck would have it this year, the parade falls on my mom's birthday, and we have the morning free!

I am learning... more about sub flooring than I ever wanted to know.

I am hearing... Vivaldi's The Four Seasons. And the bird accompaniment from outside.

Around the house... (I think I have covered this is in incredibly boring detail)

I am pondering... what to have for breakfast...

One of my favorite things... my new Keurig! The downside is that I miss that tantalizing brewing coffee smell - the anticipation is an important of the whole coffee 'experience'! The upside is that your coffee is ready before you can even extricate the creamer from the fridge and locate a clean spoon (okay, so maybe not everyone has that particular challenge).

A few plans for the rest of the week... the usual schooling and activity schedule, a meeting for me, an ortho appointment for Jordan and then he leaves for OKC on Friday for his Spring Break visitation with his mom. We will celebrate the Spring Equinox on Wednesday - I intend to write more about that in the next day or two.

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

This was what was happening at this time, last week. Crazy Colorado weather!

A blizzard one week, a heatwave and wildfires the next...

 

 

 

 

 

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