Simple Woman's Daybook Entry

 

Outside my window... A new window location to look out of today! Even though it faces the street, the front window is my favorite spot. It has the best sunlight and view. It is sunny, and the streets and sidewalks are mostly clear of the snow from last week. There is still about 2-3 inches of crusty snow on the grass.

I am thinking... It's been a tough week emotionally. A person in my life let me down in a big way, and then turned around and made an even bigger demand on me and my time. I am already so busy, and this situation just...sucks. I am such a doormat. I love it when I can help others, but I think certain types of people sense that, and they just capitalize on that. I've really got to learn how to say "no" and put my time and my family first.

I am thankful... That we have a warm home, loving grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and that getting together for family fun is such a natural and easy thing for us. It really takes the stress out of the holidays in these parts.

From the Learning Rooms... pathetically little. We even missed out on the Hour of Code this past week because I am so lame and so busy. We will definitely get to it this week.

In the kitchen... I did manage to make two different batches of Christmas cookies this past week. I love to bake. I love friends that bake even more. Amanda - your cookies are evil. In a super delicious way. I'm not sure if I should thank you. But I will. And then I will reluctantly run another lap around the block to make up for liking your cookies so much.

I am wearing... pjs on a Sunday morning cannot be beat!

I am creating... shhhhh... I am attempting to make individual teepee hideouts for the little kids. Dean is cutting the pvc poles, and I am making the covering out of tanned buffalo hides. Okay, okay... bedsheets and fabric yardage that used to cover the walls in my classroom. Glad to finally use all of those yards of fabric for something!! Many thanks to friend Dennise for the inspiration. And the hundreds of pins out there devoted to said subject. With any luck, we'll have a teepee village surrounding the Christmas Tree on Christmas morning - complete with wild Indians, I'm sure.

Link to pic and how-to..

I am going... To Bed Bath & Beyond today to start the long and expensive journey of getting new window coverings for just about every window in the house. So long and so expensive, that they will have to be done one at a time. So we get to enjoy another long year of the house looking unfinished and unkempt. Today's window is the front office room that I am currently in. It is the most visible of the windows, and I would really like some privacy. A fabric shade was here before, but kitty shredded it to pieces because the bird feeder was positioned on the other side of the window. Despite repeated attempts to stalk and pounce on unsuspecting birds, she never got a clue that it just wasn't going to work out for her. Too many concussions from hitting the window, I suppose.

I am wondering... I've asked this before, and it is on my mind ever-so-much this week. If there was one responsibility in your life that you could let go of, what would it be? What would you just love to walk away from?

 

I am reading... Nothing much of consequence...there is just too much to do in a day. :(


I am hoping... For lots of sunshine this week. I need to run!

 

I am looking forward to... We are getting our girl scout troop together this week for an ornament co-op. I love this event!

 

I am learning... I think I am going to be learning about code, as I work through it with Rylan. Jordan can handle it on his own.

 

I am hearing... Felix Da Housecat, Radio.

Around the house... Painting. Lots and lots of painting. Dean finished the floors last weekend, and we could FINALLY put away the drills, saws, hammers, scraps of wood and so forth that have decorated our counters for the past eight months or so. That is a long, long time to live with dust and debris.  Now we can have paint cans, rollers in ziplock bags, brushes and paint trays instead. Much better. ;)

 

I am pondering... Hmm. Paint color I guess. I am really happy with the deep wall color I chose - called Pecan Sandie by Behr. It reminds me of creamy coffee. I am not happy with the medium hue I chose - off of the same pain chip. It has a definite lilac tinge to it that I do not like. I am debating just doing the whole lower level in Pecan Sandie. I really liked having dimension on some of the walls though, and having focal walls be the deep color. Hmmm. Decisions, decisions. Thank goodness it's not life or death around here.

One of my favorite things... Is an OCD fix! Here is a good one! Off to buy some filing folders!

 

A few plans for the rest of the week... the normal activity schedule, bake some cookies for a bake sale fundraiser for a very sick scout in Jordan's troop [cancer... :( ], ornaments with the girl scouts, homeschool gym class, and a doctor appointment. A very low-key week indeed - just what I needed. :) I guess I should add decorate the tree, set up my Santa collection, and painting. Lots of painting.

 

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

My kids and my nephews (the three older boys) decorated gingerbread houses last night.  Drew (on the far left), and Colin (on the far right), may be cousins, but they are totally copycat versions of each other.  They even fake 'smile' the same.  Drew calls Colin his 'mini-me'.  SO true.  so true...

 

 

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Thanksgiving, by the numbers...

1 - The number of times we ate at Ted's Cafe. We love this place. I entered 1000 cal. on MyFitnessPal and called it good. They serve a warm creamy queso dip, fresh, thick tortillas, chips & salsa to your table within a couple minutes of you sitting down. That queso dip is calling my naaame...

2 - The number of times I called my friend Shawn for emergency knitting help. I have now conquered the purl stitch and knitting in the round. I may finish my hat before the next century.

3 - The number of stores we shopped at on Black Friday. I usually have a rule that this day is a NOshopping day. but... when you run out of diapers, even a moral stance has to give way. So, in the late, late afternoon in the hopes of avoiding crowds, we dropped by Target to pick up some diapers, we went to Bed, Bath & Beyond to get my MIL a nice trashcan for the kitchen because paper bags on the floor were not cutting it, and I got these babies (see below) because it was so beyond time to replace them, and there was a New Balance store not far away, AND, well, it was Black Friday, no? I got them for 10% off!

3.5 - The number of hours we spent at Jasmine Moran Children's Museum. This was our second visit, and we really love this place. There was lots of new stuff to see and do. My favorite was the air tubes that you could watch large pompoms or scarves travel through.. Here are a few pics of the kids...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4 - The number of times we visited Braum's for ice cream and food. If you don't live in the KS/OK/TX region you may not know what this place is, but their ice cream is* magical*. This was definitely the week to not think about calories. I need to stop writing about food.

5 - The number of items we carried into the hotel the night we left. (We split the drive over two days on the way out, because we couldn't leave until early evening). Dean was quick to remind me of this fact several times over the span of our visit - and related this fact to anybody who was willing to listen. There is some history behind this, because this has been a HUGE point of contention between us since the get-go. I was always of the frame of mind that each child had their own packed duffle bag of clothes/toiletries/books and so forth. Every time we stayed at a hotel, in went everybody's individual bag. That meant 4 duffle bags, 2 suitcases, 3-4 bags of electronics and paperwork that couldn't be left in the car, the little cooler and food bin (especially if it was a summer road trip), baby stuff (at various times over the course of the years), individual blankets and pillows for the kids and so forth. We usually filled an entire luggage cart from top to bottom. Dean was in the frame of mind that we should pack one 'hotel' bag. Into this bag would go an outfit for each person for the next day, and any diapers/toiletries we would need. I always said 'no', because invariably somebody would mess up their clothes at breakfast, we would run short on diapers, or forget something. This year I relented. I finally felt that the kids were old enough that we didn't need to factor in 'what-if'. So, when we rolled into Hays, KS at 12:35 a.m., we carried in one duffle bag, 2 electronics backpacks (don't want to leave it in the car overnight), 1 paperwork bag and my purse. Dean has won the argument, hands down. Now I just have to live with his gloating for the rest of my life.

6 - The number of Christmas placemats my SIL Joyce made for our family. LOVE THEM!

6 - The average number of hours it takes to drive through Kansas via I-70 - I-35. I like Kansas for the simple reason that it is good for prolonged conversations, listening to podcasts of Wait, Wait and This American Life, and knitting. Well - attempts at knitting.

6.5 - The number of miles I ran! :) Two runs - the first was mind-blowingly awesome. The second one hurt a little bit in the feet, and I felt a bit sore and stiff everywhere else. (I ran Monday and Wednesday). My shoes are sooo old, and the lining of the heel cup in one has completely rubbed away and I've patched it with duct tape more times than I can count since July, and I need to tape my heel so that I don't get a blister, and I forgot to pack tape, and there you go. Time for new shoes. (See #3)

8 - The number of snack bags I made for the car trip. We haven't been on a road trip since last Christmas, so since the littles are a year older, things get easier. The morning of the day we left, I made the snack bags - two per kid, one for the way there, one for the way back. Each bag had some vanilla wafers, pretzels, cheese crackers, wheat thins, starbursts, M&M's, Mike n' Ike's, Jolly Ranchers and fruit snacks. It worked like a charm - no repeatedly asking for food, and they were told, once it's gone, it's gone. Every bad had some left. Many, many thanks to my friend Amanda, for the idea. :) oh - and only one bag got dumped out - in the garage, at home, as we were unpacking.

$27.50 - The price of two adult movie tickets to see Catching Fire. Absolutely worth it. The movie was just as I imagined things in my head - especially the arena. On a side note, I had to bunch up some torn napkin and put it in my ears because the volume level was deafening. From the moment the first preview began, I was covering my ears. It is just me? Am I getting too old and sensitive? Jeez! TURN IT DOWN! Other than that, the movie was great.

30 - the number of family members that ate a large meal together on Thanksgiving. It was a very good day - nothing felt rushed, the food turned out perfectly (every family brought something) and my children did not act like buffoons or break anything, so that is always a plus. I made a spicy cranberry sauce appetizer (you eat it with cream cheese and crackers), a hot spinach and artichoke dip on toasted baguettes appetizer, 6 dozen rolls, hot cider, and helped with a few other things here and there. I came armed with my recipes and trusty bread machine.

91 - The number of tickets we earned by playing skeeball, plastic 10-pin bowling and rifle shooting when we took the kids to GattiTown for pizza and fun. The kids took their first-ever ride on Go Karts (the entire place is indoors). Rylan got to drive herself, I rode with Colin, and Owen rode with Dean. The kids spent their tickets on a plastic ball for Owen, a paper fan for Rylan, and a plastic kazoo for Colin. Nothing lasted longer than a couple of hours - except for the heartburn.

 

 

 

 

 

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