Lost

Last night was the season premier of Lost. Oh, how I love this show!

We spent the evening at a friends house. It was a wonderful time! We ate brie and pesto whilst trying not to drink an entire bottle of lovely white wine. Ok,, there WAS brie and pesto, which was wonderful but the white wine was cheap and frankly one step above Boone's. No matter. It made for a great evening.

We cooked and ate and cooked and ate. I made Ree's recipe for Pasta Primavera. OH MY GOODNESS. It cannot be summed up in one word. It was out of this world, divine, HEAVENLY. Pretty easy to make too!

She made a very sinful hashbrown cassarole that I enjoyed again this morning for breakfast! She also made a wonderful fruity cake with lemon fluff topping. I could have eaten the entire thing myself.

I'm chomping antacids as we speak.

Back to Lost. Did anyone watch? Could you be more blissfully confused? I'm going to have to go hunting for "easter eggs" on the net. It makes the show like a game ya know? It wasn't the greatest episode ever but it was good. Does anyone remember the last episode where the helicopters were flying in to pick them up at the radio tower? Did I dream that? What the heck is up with the boat coming now? I'm confused as ususal.

Well, the spellchecker is fouled up so excuse the typos.

I'll make another post tonight for Thing-a-day.

What have I done?

It's no mystery that the children and I are in poor shape. Chris and I have been lamenting for a long time about how to get the kids out of the house and get some serious exercise on a daily basis. They need it... I need it.

Yesterday I made them get off their can and gave myself a big kick in the pants as well. We put our sneakers on and walked. Hard. We walked west until 15 minutes were up and then limped back.

This morning it was raining and cold but I was not deterred! I got up early, got the kids up, we put on our sneakers and went to the mall before it opened and walked. 30 minutes.

After that we made a quick stop at Wal-mart for ink pads since it was still too early for Michael's (SHOCK! We're out of the house, done exercising, and shopping before most stores are even open!) and then with renewed vigor headed home to start school work.

You're jealous of me. Go ahead and say it. Wait... don't let your green eyed demon out yet.

So we're having our lessons and the WHINING and the GRUMPING and the LAYING ONE'S FACE DOWN ON THEIR BOOK and the YAWNING. They were exhausted. T2 actually fell asleep in his math book. I sent him to bed where he promptly fell back to sleep.

Now the day that was supposed to be an early start will be a late start because who knows when T2 will get up and be sociable.

We'll adjust to this eventually right?

And they wonder why people don't stick with an exercise regime!

sneak peak.

Thirty down....

thrity to go!

Water, water everywhere

"Water, water, everywhere, And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink."


Home preparedness. It's not just for those folks wearing their tin foil hats! Here in the Tri-state we have some very big reasons to have basic supplies on hand at all times. Over the last week, we have had 3 semi-serious situations that called for the average person to use their wits.

The first of the inconvenience tri-fecta was that nice icy Tuesday morning. We expected snow but we did not expect it to be so slick! Winter storms are best weathered at home. Yes, I know you know how to drive in the ice and the snow but "BillyJoRayBob" obviously does not. A person can do without a gallon of milk for a few days but how about electricity? Do you have an alternate source of heat? A simple solution is closing off all but one room and using a small portable device like this Coleman Blackcat Propane Heater. Remember, this heater requires supervision at all times.




Number two was a real eye opener to many in our area. An enormous water main broke and forced a county wide boil water advisory for days. Some were completely without water for some time. Interviews with local "victims" reflected how lost people were with the slightest discomfort. The schools were closed for 2 days as far away as Cabell Midland High School! That's almost 14 miles away for those of you who aren't local. This is such an easy thing to be prepared for. Find a spot in your house where you can set back a few jugs of drinking water for each person in your house. You will also want to store some "grey water" for things like flushing toilets. We also have a few Tide liquid dispenser containers that we did not wash out full of water. Those are a welcomed when it comes time to wash your hands in an emergency. This is something that is practically free and everyone can accomplish.

The last problem we've had this week was the gas leak from the John Amos Power Plant in St. Albans. It didn't effect us directly here in Huntington. We were outside of the range of the "blue cloud" but it's an excellent reminder that we could be called to "shelter in place" at any time. Do you have enough provisions to be comfortable? Pick up a few extra things at the store next time.







Here is a brief list of things that should be in your emergency kit.

Flashlight (check often if the batteries are good. The ones you "shake" are excellent)

Batteries

wind up radio (these are very reasonably priced and invaluable in a black out)

1 gallon of water for every person per day

vital medication

first aid kit

sanitary needs

items for the young and the infirmed

Blankets and sleeping bags

extra glasses

a NON ELECTRIC can opener

exam gloves or some other kind of protection for your hands (I have non-latex ones for me!)

Remember, It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark!

I DON'T COMPLETELY STINK!!!

Looky what I got today!


"It's a major award!" (That was just for Becca!)
Becca gave me my very first bloggy award. I'm so excited. You'd think I'd gotten an Emmy or and Oscar or like... seen my name in the paper or something!
It always thrills me to death when I see that she stopped by my little spot on the net because I enjoy her blog so much! Imagine my excitement this evening when I realized I had this little lovely waiting on me!
What in the world did we do before we had public diaries? I've been doing this for about 18 months and it's been such a wonderful therapy. It's enough to vent and write things down but to get the occasional feedback is a definite bonus.
I wonder how I would explain blogging to someone who'd been in a coma for 20 years? How would I explain the sense of community that is shared among bloggers?
Maybe it would go something like,

"Blogging?"
"yeah, what's that all about?"
"eh,, it's like an online journal that everyone can see. Web. Log. Web-log. Weblog. Blog. Get it?"
"Oh, Ok. Why do you do it?"
"People do it for all kinds of reasons." "To keep family that is far away updated, to share a hobby or collection, or just to drone on and on about stuff that their families are sick of hearing about" ::: ehhmm,, don't read too much into that:::::
"What makes you think that anyone would want to waste their valuable time reading that?"
"I never expected anyone to read it, really. People do though!"
"How do you come across these 'blogs'"
"google"
"What's a google?"

Hmmm, apparently Mr. Coma Patient has a lot of catching up to do.
This "major award" comes with some responsibility though. I have to spread the love and nominate 10 people for the "You Make My Day" blog award.
:::::Drumroll:::::::
Amy at the foil hat. She totally makes my day. I wish I lived in Florida or she lived in WV!
Mary , Stephanie and Jennifer my favoritest local homeschool bloggy friends!
Tammy (she's local too) because she started blogging because she reads my blog. Nothing like a little flattery huh?
Buzzardbilly, HausFrau, and Blonde Goddess because they crack me up and make me smile daily with their irreverent humor.
Yard Sale Bloodbath I would love to go yard saleing with this blogger. That's my kind of junk!
And when I'm not looking at Becca's pretty knits, I'm probably admiring the knits on zigzag stitch .

Thanks again Becca! That was fun!

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Cloth Pads for Dummies

A while ago, I blogged about making re-usable menstrual pads for my emergency kit. A short while after that, I blogged an update about how I was hooked. I've made many more since then. I'll never go back. They do take a bit of effort but the benefits far outway the negatives. I recently ran across an easy tutorial for a square style pad that intrigued me. I gave it a try and gave it some modifications that I think improve the over all construction and use.
This still is not my favorite but it's good in a pinch and it makes up really quickly! I thought I'd show you how it's done.

Specs on the pattern pieces
Cut from poster board. This enables you to use the pieces again and again. Just trace around the pieces when placing them on your fabric.


Piece 1= 11.5 inches by 10.5 inches cut 1 of terry (mine is old ugly towel)
Piece 2= 10.5 inches by 4.5 inches cut3 of flannel (ever feel like monkeys are flying out of your butt?)
Piece 3= 10.5 inches by 4 inches cut 1 of nylon, PLU, or ripstop
Piece 4= 4.5 inches by 3 inches cut 2 flannel

A 1/2 inch seam was taken throughout (because the math was easier than 5/8ths ha ha)
Note that piece 3 and 4 are cut on the fold.




You might consider not being a complete lazy butt and ironing your pieces. It was late and my ironing board makes a horrible screach. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!




The zigzag isn't necessary but I think it looks nice and lays flatter.




Trimming the seams makes it lie much neater and flatter when you flip it inside out.












I use my zigzag stitch as close to the edge as possible. This keeps the egde from fraying. If you hate your zigzag stitch (like I did on my old machine) then consider doing a blanket stitch by hand around the outer edge. If not, you don't have to do anything at all but after a few washes you might be sorry.

Stitching in the ditch. Basically, just stitch along your seams. This helps it fold better.





That's it!
Now I think this one is a bit bulky but it washes nicely and it dries quickly.

How ironic is it that I have include the words can crusher in today's post? tee hee.

Appalachia, Economy and Homeschool

I've had a few thought provoking conversations this week. Being part of a homeschool family, I naturally field a lot of questions about it. Aside from the black and whiteness of the law, the answers are as varied as the colors in the rainbow.

Can your kids go to college?

Do you have to be a teacher to homeschool your kids?

Do you have to use a preset curriculum?

These are easy questions to answer. Yes, no, no. The tricky ones are ones that require me to give my opinion. I know it shocks you all that I would find it difficult to give my opinion! It's true. That doesn't prevent me from droning on and on, but I digress.

Why do you homeschool?

Do you think homeschooling produces better results?

What do you teach them?

I can't answer these questions in one word, nor would I want to. The gears in my mind really start to turn when I try to sort out the answers. I won't try to do that here, perhaps another day.

This week I've been mulling over the whole college issue. On Monday, I had a pleasant conversation with a homeschool -mom- friend and we talked about how college courses were not for everyone. Someone has to be a mechanic, a trash man, and a welder. I left that chat feeling pretty solid in my conviction that if my boys decided that vocational school was better suited to their interests, then I would be happy. After all a welder makes darn good money, right?

This evening I had a talk with another acquaintance about homeschool. He wanted to know about the pros and the cons. I jabbered on and on about working at one's own pace, and child lead interests, and the state of our public schools. Somewhere in the discourse I mentioned my revelation that perhaps the boys would choose not to go to college. This sent him into a huge tizzy. What? In this day and age? You can't be serious! How will they support themselves?

Hmm, how indeed?

I started to consider our attitudes towards higher education here in Appalachia. I'm not really talking about parents encouraging their children to get a higher education. Most parents are doing a fine job there. I'm talking about our societal attitude. It's the little hints that we pick up from how people live their lives. So often in our area, we see friends who have taken the leap to be the first ones in their families to graduate from college just to wind up working in a telemarketing warehouse or becoming the assistant manager of a store at the mall. It's no wonder that we start to think, "is it worth it?"

I wonder about people who live deeper in WV. Do they think to themselves, "If I get a degree, where will I work?". If the answer is UPS or the post office or the mines regardless of their degree, then I'm not sure I blame them for never aspiring to anything more.

We as West Virginians have a unique communal dynamic. There is no life outside of the town in which we were raised. Consciously, we know that there is, in fact, a big world out there just waiting to be conquered but it's not for us. We are forever tied to the hills. These mountains are too big, they have too much gravitational pull.

What? In this day and age? You can't be serious! How will they support themselves?

I suppose I too have been consumed by the trap. Instead of aspiring for much, much more for my boys, I've been lulled into the complacency of our local job market. I have become the mountain that can't see beyond my own orbit. My satellites, my boys.

I still do not know what the future will hold for them. They are young yet, but not for long. Giving them the tools and the skill to make the decision for themselves will have to be where I focus my energy now. It's a worrisome thing. Parenthood.

beer pong tables

No Day Off.

Today was a holiday for most of the country. Not for us though! We still had lessons and band class.

Tomorrow is our 2nd co-op session of the month. After that we have the monthly homeschool skate. The boys look forward to it all month.

This evening we started reading "From the Mixed Up Files of Basil E. Frankweiler". It's pretty good so far. You can't tell much after one chapter.
Here are the learning links we're using:
Teacher's Cyberguide
Online activities using the Metropolitan Museum of Art's site
WebQuesting From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler: 30 Years Later
Flash games and activities for Mixed-up Files

Scholastic book discussion guide

Michelangelo

The Italian Renaissance (1420-1600)

Apparently it was a movie in 1995 but they want $129.00 for it on Amazon so I'm guessing we're not going to see it!

Sunday we made a trip up to Charleston to go to the big car show. My boys are complete and total car NUTS. You would think they were in an amusement park with the way they were acting. Sitting in a Porche is just as exciting to them as sitting in a rollar coaster. My batteries are dead in my camera so I'll post pictures tomorrow night.

Mommy found a new car though! Yup, we're thinking new car because the handle on the driver's side door is broken for the THRID TIME. So we're thinking of trading the Pathfinder in on a new Jeep Wrangler Extreme.

It's the only car that made us all smile from ear to ear when we got in it. Well,, that's a lie, we also smiled really big when we sat in the Mercedes GL550. Not. Gonna. Happen. Ha ha ha.

The 4 door Jeep is MUCH roomier than I thought! It's not as roomy as the Pathfinder but hey,,, we don't really NEED 3rd row seating, it was just nice to have room for tents, rifles, luggage, etc. It's also nice to be able to haul people around. This 4 door Jeep still has a bunch of room in the back while comfortably seating all four of us. Even in the Pathfinder the boys' knees touch the back of the seat when Chris is driving. In the Jeep we could have fit a whole person inbetween their knees and Dad's seat. We would also get a roof rack I'm sure. We'd need it for camping trips.

This is such a fun vehicle. I hope that we don't suffer because it's a D/P/C product (Dodge, Plymouth, Chrysler). Chris assures me that the Wranglers are not like the rest of the line. I hope he's right. I swore I would never have another D/P/C product after our horrible luck with a Plymouth Breeze. Man that car sucked. To top the deal off,, Jeep offers a lifetime powertrain warranty.

We have a huge day tomorrow. I must make myself fight the insomnia and go to sleep. Sweet dreams all!

Highlands Museum

Today was a busy day! We went with our co-op to the Highlands Museum in Ashland KY to attend a workshop on the Flag.After our mini-lesson on the parts of the flag and a brief history, the teacher had an instruction following exercise. They were to design their own flag. She only had a few rules to follow:
1. Cut your paper in a square or a banner shape
2. Only use up to 5 stars.
3. Wait and don't jump ahead.
Technically it would have been a lot more fun to just "do our own thing" but it's important to learn to listen and follow instructions.

The kids did a lovely job of course. Can I just tell you that since I've started homeschooling, I've really let go of a lot (not all) of my control issues? I'm not saying it's not still hard but I'm getting better. I know that homeschoolers get stereotyped as "control freaks" and yes,, that's true a lot of the time. I mean, heck, someone had to take control of their education didn't they? Even a very unconventional unschooler has exerted his or her control by choosing that lifestyle. There was a time when I would not have been happy to let T1 put that many stripes on his flag but I stood back, gave him a few gluing pointers and let it go. This sounds incredibly lame to some of you, I know, but this is a huge hurdle for me! I think his weaving turned out kinda cool!

Pops was able to go with us. His vacation is almost over. He and the boys were really taken with the aviation exhibit. It was really cool. They had flight simulators, a hands on wind tunnel, this cool thing that showed airflow by supporting a ball in the air, and some other things that I can't recall right now.

After we left we decided to walk over to the Jesse Stuart Foundation Museum. They were so excited to get visitors! So excited in fact that they gave us a very detailed tour and lecture on Jesse Stuart. Very cool and totally worth the price of admission- FREE.

The museum is located in the old post office, so one of the curators showed us the old safes. Notice in the picture below that there is a safe above the one the boys are standing in.

Do you know why they did that?

Here's a clue.

Ashland is a river town.

Yup, I bet you got it! Flooding.

When a flood threatened, all the money and stamps went in the upper level safe.

There is also a used book store in the back. I scored some great books!

Incident At Hawk's Hill by Allan W. Eckert- This was not used, it was in the local author's section of the main store. Allan Eckert (I don't have to tell this to history buffs) writes amazing accounts of North American History. Especially local history. You might have heard of That Dark and Bloody River. Well, we had no idea he'd written children's books too! It's a Newberry Honor book to boot.

Custer's Last Stand (a OLD edition, Pops assured me it's inaccurate)

Men Who Have Risen - a collection of short biographies from the turn of LAST century. It's over 100 years old and the binding is as tight as day one. It's a very cool book and quite a deal for a dollar!

Usborne Puzzle Adventures Time Train to Ancient Rome- 50 whole cents!

And the best of all? Everything You Need To Know About Math Homework.- I've checked this book out of the library SO MANY TIMES! Now it's MINE! WHOO HOO! all for the value price of $1.00.

I thought I might try and get a little bit of school work in before we left the house today but I decided that for my own sanity we would just call it a field trip day. Turned out to be a good decision. We learned quite today!

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Of Sundials and Treasure Island

I mentioned the other day that the boys are studying time. We worked laboriously on a spectacular sundial.
Ok,, maybe not so much. Maybe we stuck something heavy in a box, made a big nail stick out of it and stuck a poster board circle on top.
Anyway, we took it outside yesterday and marked where the shadow fell. A little while later, we marked it again. The idea was just to show how the shadow would move.




We left it outside over night and through the next day to see if the shadow fell in the exact same spot the next day. It was PERFECT! If we marked out all the hours we could tell time by it! We left it out again. If we don't get snow tonight, we'll go make some more lines on it tomorrow.

Dad is still reading Treasure Island to the boys. We're all very into it and can't wait to read the next chapter. The boys are very interested in all the weaponry of course. Dad is working in a lot of history along with this reading. That's always good. Tonight we learned about Virginia Governor Alexander Spotswood's dealings with Blackbeard the pirate and why European countries hired privateers.

It all sounds so wonderful doesn't it? Well, perhaps I shouldn't mention that we also learned about why they call it the "Poop Deck"! From Wikipedia

In naval architecture, a poop deck is a deck that constitutes the roof of a cabin built in the aft (rear) part of the superstructure of a ship. The name originates from the French word (la poupe)[1] for stern, this makes the poop deck technically called a stern deck, which in sailing ships was usually elevated as the roof of the stern (or 'after') cabin. In sailing ships, with the helmsman at the stern, an elevated position was ideal for both navigation and observation of the crew and sails.

The picture shows the stern of the ship. The deck out of view above the after cabin is the poop deck. On modern, motorized warships, the ship functions which were once carried out on the poop deck are moved to the superstructure in the center of the ship (or the island on the starboard side, in the case of aircraft carriers), and the aft area, which is clear and flush with the main deck, is referred to as the fantail.

Pretty interesting huh? I thought so!

Monday

A busy day as usual.

I slept late today. I could have had something to do with the fact that no one was stomping around the bedroom at zero dark thirty. Yup, Big Daddy's on vacation this week. I had no subconscious "it's time to get up" thing. This lead us to a late start this morning.

And as usual no sooner than we got school out of the way, it was time to go to band. Actually, I had to go pick up my new "specs" before band today. Whoo hoo (can you sense the enthusiasm?) I'm a glasses wearer.

Whoa. Can you say "Deer in the headlights"?

It's nice though. I can see stuff! Stuff has edges, grass has blades, sweaters have texture, and the interwebs has words! WOOT.

My family keeps looking at me and saying "wow,, you look geeky". I say it's just the inner geek coming to the outside.

Ok, so has anyone stuck to their New Year's Resolutions? My unofficial resolution was to use my treadmill more. I still want to, I haven't given up but I won't lie, I haven't even unfolded it. Nope not once. I have a nice new treadmill but I really haven't used it much. I walked the belt off the last one I had, literally. That's when I lost all kinds of weight. So much for that huh? After the treadmill I got an elliptical . God did I hate that thing! So my loverly honey bought me a really nice treadmill. Looks great with blankets and stuffed animals hanging all over it doesn't it?

After band the whole gang made a trip to Lowes and Home Depot (Slows or Home Despit as we call them) . We're going to tile the front bathroom. We've gone through numerous kinds of flooring in the boy's bathroom and none of them have been any good. I'll also tell you that we've replace the joists under the floor 2 times due to water damage. Boys. Are. Slobs. They slop water out of the tub, they don't even "shake" before getting out of the tub, and they don't hit the toilet with any amount of accuracy. So, we're going to try tile. At least no moisture can get under it. Wish us luck. This will either work out well or go horribly, horribly wrong.

Off to bed. Sleep tight!

Time Uncovered

I mentioned a few days ago (maybe a week, who's counting?) that the boys were studying "time". I also said that I would post some learning links. In this past week I've discovered something really cool. It may be old news to some but I had never run across it before. It's called Squidoo. It's a super easy platform that allows you to put all of your knowledge in one place. I'm going to use it to organize my home school unit studies. Here is the unit we put together on the History of Time.

http://www.squidoo.com/Historyoftime

Friday

Today we attended Project day. Until today, our group has been small. We went from 3 to 30! There were projects on penguins, Scotland, book reports, new readers reading for the first time, civil war rifles, poetry readings, a project on lift and drag and finally ballistas and crossbows. It was very nice to see that many people come out! If you're a Cabell Co. Home School Student you should try and make it next time! Our next meeting will be February 8 at Christ the King Lutheran on Rt. 60.

Today was also just the grayest WV day ever. You gotta love WV winter...... not. What's gray, wet, muddy, cold but not freezing, windy and sunless? WV Winter. I totally understand why elderly folk move south for the winter. This weather makes a body's bones hurt. I'm sitting here trying to think of something that is NOT negative to say about it. Hmmm, it reduces the amount of bugs in the summer time? Well, maybe,, if it gets cold enough. I do love a good snow as long as it's not real slick. A good snow day is rare.

On the upside, I found a new recipe that we love! I made it in the Crock Pot today and MAN,, is it GOOD!

CROCK POT CHICKEN & CORNMEAL DUMPLINGS

1 (9 oz.) pkg. frozen cut green beans

2 c. cubed, cooked chicken

2 c. diced potatoes

1 9(13 3/4 oz.) can chicken broth

1 (12 oz.) can vegetable juice cocktail

(1 1/2 c.)1 tsp. chili powder

6 drops bottled hot pepper sauce

1/3 c. yellow cornmeal

2 tbsp. snipped parsley

1/2 c. sliced celery

1/2 c. chopped onion

1/2 tsp. sal

t1 1/4 c. packaged biscuit mix

1 c. sharp shredded American cheese

2/3 c. milk
Thaw beans by placing in strainer and run hot water over beans. Transfer to crock pot. Add chicken, potatoes, chicken broth, vegetable juice, celery, onion, chili powder, salt and hot pepper sauce, mixed together. Cover. Cook on low for 4 hours. Turn to high heat and heat until bubbly. Add water at this point if needed. Combine biscuit mix, cornmeal, 1/2 cup cheese and parsley. Add milk and stir until just moistened. Drop by tablespoons onto stew; cover. Cook 2 1/2 hours more (don't lift cover). Sprinkle dumplings with rest of cheese.

I adjusted it a bit to suit Big Daddy's tastes but wow, it was SO GOOD. Very yummy on a gray winter day. I'll be making this again and again. It was very easy. I never imagined that dumplings with a tomato based gravy would be so good.

I took some over to mom since she's all hold up in her house with pnemonia. She gave me a food grinder and some socks you put in the microwave for my birthday! Ohhhh yeah baby,, they are SO COZY! She gave me a box of food stuffs and set me to making soup. A pot of Chicken taco soup will arrive at her house tomorrow morning. I've just been a cookin' fool this week! I got a new crockpot from my MIL for Christmas and I've been keeping that thing hoppin!

Reasons I love this crock pot:

1. 3 removeable crocks

2. The crocks are pretty enough to use alone.

3. This crock pot gets HOT, but I've not had one thing stick.

4. The "warm" function is wonderful.

5. The crocks "nest" for easy storeage.

6. venting lid

7. easy grip handles

I couldn't be happier with it. Ok, I could be, it could have a timer function but can you really cook something TOO LONG in a crock pot? Nope. So that hasn't been an issue. I've seen a few new models out there that have snap tight lids. That would be nice if I had to take a crock of something somewhere but I'll just use the old towels and bungy cord thing that I always have before. Not pretty, but it keeps me from having a whole floorboard full of cheese dip.

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Thursday

I posted last time about how busy this week would be. It hasn't disappointed! The scurrying around hasn't been too bad though. I had purposely planned to not have anything to do yesterday and it was a good thing. We had one of those school days yesterday that nothing went right. We persevered and fought our way through it. I generally think that it won't do any good to try and learn anything on days when it's just not happening but we were only getting 2 full school days in this week so I felt the need to press on.
It was UGLY.
I don't see today being much better. Not because of the kids but I have a sinus headache from hell. I felt it coming on last night and took some Nyquil and went to bed. This morning? Apparently the Nyquil wore off. Time for Dayquil! It's not nearly as good now that there's no Sudafed in it.
Methheads SUCK! I have to sign over my first born to the pharmacy now to get a flippin' Sudafed. Forget trying to get any after 9pm.
Anyway.... time to call in the substitute teacher! oh wait.... I don't have one. Darn-it.
Tomorrow is Project Day. Since we didn't have many school days in December we don't really have a good project. I think the kids are just going to show and tell their ballista that they built with dad over the summer.

Speakin' of Dad. He's reading Treasure Island with them currently. It's nice to not be the one to do the reading right now! He has vacation next week so they plan to finish it up then. They seem to be enjoying it.

We recently watched "Night at the Museum" and enjoyed it immensely. I know we're kinda late to the table on this one but I highly recommend this movie. No foul language, no sexual innuendo, a little bit of a history lesson and we laughed and laughed. Very funny movie. Ben Stiller, Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney, Robin Williams, Owen Wilson, and Bill Cobb are just a few faces you'll recognize. By far Mickey Rooney's character, Gus, was our favorite. Our family friendly rating is five stars!


Our next book is "From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler". It looks like it'll be cute. This book is about 2 kids who run away and decide to live in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It's also a Newberry award winner so it's go that going for it too. It seems like a good follow up to "Night at the Museum"

Nissan update? They rigged up my door so it would work until they get a new part. I'll spare you the details of how condesending and jerk like "Jim" was. I will tell you that he told me that I "needed to not be so rough on my door handle"
What?
If I want to haul 1/2 ton loads of bricks from my door handles then I'll do it! I'm not being abnormally rough on my door handles! The kids literally use their entire body weight to open and close the door and their doors aren't broken! I just think it's a giant peice of plastic crap and they want to make it look like it's my fault.
I still LOATH them.

Well, the kids are finally stirring. Time to suffer through.. I mean start school.

I survived.

Well, almost, I still have to go to Office Max tonight to make my copies.

The Monday from Hades as been conquered!

We only needed one pair of glasses today at the eye doctor. Give you one guess who it was. Yup, I'm blind as a bat. When will my other senses start compensating for my lack of hearing and now vision. What's left? Taste? Oh yea,, like I need that to be heightened! Swell,,, just swell.

So here's where I tell you why I can't be trusted to work with the public.

I'm sitting there in the Optometrist's office and a lady comes bustin in the door with what I thought was another woman. Before she even got to the window she starts talking.

Dumb lady: HEY, UH, I NEED TO ASK YOU SOME QUESTIONS

Receptionist: Sure hun, what do you need?

DL: Uhmm, she put her contacts in and they started, which one was it?,

Woman Child: First it was the right one, then it was the left one, then it was the right one again.

DL: Yeah, her eyes started burnin' real bad and I had to go get her from school and everything

Receptionist: Are they stinging right now?

WC: No, they're fine.

DL: Yeah, but they were stingin' real bad when she put 'em in, then they were 'astingin' her at school and I had to go get her and everything. You think 'em things might be cracked?

Receptionist: Honey, did you look at them? Do they look ok?

WC: Yeah, they look just fine

DL: Yeah, I think they might be cracked

Receptionist: Did you use the solution we gave you? Did you make sure they were good and clean?

DL: Oh, she's usin' it, it's that same stuff you gave us. I think they might be cracked or somethin'

WC: My eyes just started burnin' real bad (insert Napoleon "My lips hurt real bad" joke here)

DL: I think they might be cracked.

Receptionist: I think you should probably use some plain saline on them to rinse them off really well and then try them again.

DL: Can you do that? Where do I get that stuff?

Receptionist: Yes, it's perfectly Ok to use saline

DL: Can you do that?

Receptionist: "yes, you can pick up a multipurpose saline just about anywhere"

DL: You can just put that right on 'em? I just wanted to ask you what was goin' on so I could find out what's wrong with her.

Receptionist: Yes, just wash your hands really well with anti-bac soap and then spray them off with the saline. You know,, she probably just got some kind of allergen under her lens, just try rinsing them.

DL: You don't think they're cracked?

Receptionist: No, I think some kind of dander or pollen got under her lens and caused some temporary irritation. Just try rinsing them Ok?

DL: Well, I just wanted to ask you, I just need to know what's wrong with her. I just had to find out if they were cracked or not. You don't think they're cracked?

OH, for the LOVE OF PETE. I just wanted to stand of and scream "THEY'RE NOT CRACKED LADY! YOU'RE CRACKED! ARE YOU ON CRACK?"

This woman wasn't going to give up until someone said "oh absolutely, they're probably cracked, this is a real tragedy calling for some real drama, I'm glad you came in when you did, she mighta been blind for life!"

Woman child was almost laughing the whole time. She knows how to play mom like a fiddle doesn't she? She totally got out of 6th period Algebra. I'm just sayin.

Then there was the Library. Get this,, you're gonna love this. I took my ginormous, homeschool family, grossly educational, stack of books in and set them on the check in platform. We mosey back to get our next stack. We were back there maybe 10-15 minutes and the library was steady with patrons but not overly busy. So we come up to the counter and she starts scanning our books. The new little girl that works there (cute as a button btw, and sweet as she can be) gets this funny look on her face. She turns to me and says "You have a lot of books out"

I replied "oh, I know, I turned them all back in today"

the puzzled look gets worse and she starts reading me the names of the books that I just returned.

I say "no, those are the ones I just brought back"

She begins to look around the desk and so do I. They are no where to be found. There are zero books on the return platform. I have a revelation "perhaps they accidentally got put back on the shelves"

So we search, and we search, and we search. They are NO WHERE TO BE FOUND. I did end up finding ONE of the books on the "New releases" shelf. What the heck? Before I found that one book they were giving me the skunk eye like I was lying or something. Thank goodness for that one book! Someone has come in and grabbed a handful of books and took off with them. How sad is that? Anyway..... she cancelled them all out for me. Amazing.

All in all today went pretty well. I hope Chris get's home soon so I can run over to Office Max unaccosted... I mean, childless.

Oh, and by the way, the pot roast ROCKS!

I got nothin'

I haven't blogged and I guess you haven't missed anything. I did take some pretty pictures a few days ago!

"The girls" showed up in the back yard looking for something green to eat. Poor deer. Not a green leaf in the whole yard. I don't have any qualms about making a deer dinner but I don't wanna see them hungry. (makes the meat stringy, HA!) The baby is cute as (she? he?) can be. None of them are the slightest bit afraid of us, which would be a shame should we have to take one of 'em out! When the bucks come through though,, that's another story. They are quite hateful. Snorting and stamping their hooves at us and the cats. Our furry friends here are the whole reason we fence our garden in the warm months!

This next week is going to be horribly busy. I want to crawl in a hole.

Monday-

Get up, brown a roast, put 'er in the crock pot.

Fix the boys and I some lunch to throw in the car.

Get myself cleaned up and then make sure the guys are presentable.

Make sure the instruments are in the car

Go to Office Depot

Go to Chuck's on 20th st and drop off my "once awesome" lamp

Go to the library

Go to not one but THREE eye appointments.

Take the kids to band

Go to the bank.

Go home and hopefully find a tasty pot roast.

Collapse into a heap.

I hate Mondays.

Tuesday-

7:00am I have to be at NISSAN. Yes, you heard me right NISSAN. My door is broke again.

10:00am I have to be at co-op

Now,, co-op is over at 12:30 but I'm thinking after yesterday and my morning at the dealership my day is going to be shot and I'm going to be an evil evil wench so I'm not planning anything for that evening.

Wednesday-

I've got nothing but the boys are going to have to put together some kind of something for Friday so we'll have a busy school day. I'd kinda like to keep this day errand free. I do have to make a trip to the Goodwill sometime this week. Maybe Wednesday would be the best day to do it since I don't have any clue how ugly the whole car issue is going to be.

Thursday-

The last possible day to get my driver's license renewed. Yes, it's my birthday. BOO HISS! I'll be trying my hardest to do something decent with my hair this day and spending the biggest portion of my day at the DMV. Yeah me.

Friday-

Project Day for the kids. Not till afternoon but Friday is my "run around and pay all the bills" day. We usually do an abbreviated school day on Fridays but with the way this week is going? Geeze, I dunno,, we'll play it by ear.

The week after this one coming up,, Big Daddy has a vacation week in which we'll be doing house repairs. The boys and I will have to make sure to double up on all the school work we're missing this week too. Sounds like double duty for mama. Isn't that the way it always is?

After that we'll be in the home stretch out of January. HECK YEAH! I do hate January so so so badly! I spend the entire winter saying "COME ONNNNNNN SPRING!!!" January and February could both drop off the calendar all together and I wouldn't care one bit.

Well, for someone who has nothin', I sure typed alot!