Weekly Preview and Review

David's gone a couple times to a new Improv group that a friend of his is leading at a local library. They play "drama" type games and do some acting exercises.

Brit Lit movie night was a lot of fun; we had about twenty teenagers all together in a living room. We watched the movies the "rollicking" way (which means we talk through them - lol). TONS of fun! We watched the newest version of Oliver Twist (pretty much butchered the book) and She's The Man (a free adaptation of Twelfth Night) Can't wait for the next one - The Count of Monte Cristo!

Thanksgiving was just the six of us here. I made ham and scalloped potatoes. Since the weather was nice, Bob worked some more on the barn roof - most of the day. I worked three hours. Still a nice relaxing day.

Wrote 5000+ words on both Friday and Saturday since we had basically no plans. Finished my NaNo book on Sunday. Well, at least I hit 50,000 on Sunday. There's a bit more to write to make it "finished".

11/27 Sunday - Church
Monday - Work 4, Lessons, Karate
Tuesday - Work 5, Lessons
Wednesday - Work 5, Lessons, Art Class (S,J), Robotics (D)
Thursday - Work 4, Writing class, Karate, James' birthday!
Friday - WORK 4?, Co-op, James sleepover
Saturday - NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING!!!!
Sunday - Church

Skipping Wednesday night church this week.

James is having a couple friends over Friday night in honor of his birthday, though it's not really a party.

All the kids are done with their NaNo goals, except David who is within his last 1000 words. I will write more about that on Cornerstone.

Weekly Preview and Review

Quite a busy time for Karate - testing was last Friday. Monday was the break-a-thon. All the students raised money and then got to break boards. I didn't think to bring the camera. :-( David and James both did  a three station break (3 breaks in quick succession). The girls and I did our breaks all separately. I was soooo nervous. It's possible to break a bone in your hand (or foot if you are kicking) if you do it wrong. I just cannot have a broken hand! LOL It's NaNoWriMo, not to mention the five hours of work I do every day on the computer. So, I didn't do any breaks with my hand (1 kick and 2 with my arm).



Friday night was belt promotion. (pix on facebook) Now we are orange-stripers! We test and hopefully promote every 3 months. We are being told that orange stripe is a hard level to pass. Next is green belt! That should be in February.



Our karate school and its sister school raised $8000 in one night with the break-a-thon! On Monday we will help pack boxes of food for the needy - the schools will deliver 200+ boxes and then have some money leftover to help people with Christmas.

I finished teaching Oliver Twist this week at co-op. I am co-teaching with my friend Darlene; we work very well together! We have 23 students in our class. Next up? The Count of Monte Cristo!

Went to see The Immortals at the theater with friends Friday night. I realized that I don't really enjoy the level of violence in most R-rated movies. And I am also not a big fan of RealD 3D (or any 3D, for that matter) nor of paying extra to see the movie in a format I dislike. The theater was PACKED FULL with Twilight fans! No parking spaces, long lines in the lobby....



Recently I found out that David can earn a varsity letter for participation in the First Robotics League. 


I have just over 30,000 words for NaNoWriMo - pretty much on track. I'm enjoying writing the Rollicking Readers' Guide to Jane Austen. (Rollicking Readers is the name of our book club.) However, I miss writing fiction - who knew!?

11/20 Sunday - Church, Improv Group (D)
Monday - Work 5, Lessons, Karate Turkey Brigade
Tuesday - Work 5, Lessons, Brit Lit Movie night 
Wednesday - Work 5, Lessons
Thursday - Work?, Thanksgiving
Friday - WORK?
Saturday - NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING!!!!
Sunday - Church 

I need to get my hair cut sometime this week. Also must get groceries for Thanksgiving. 


I can work on Thanksgiving and on Black Friday if I want to, but I could also take those days off. I will probably work though. Bills still need to be paid even when there is a big holiday. (actually MORE so, lol)



About 20 teens are coming to our Brit Lit movie night on Tuesday. We are getting pizza and it should be a great time!

Weekly Preview and Review

Dental appointments went well. David had two cavities that they filled right then. The other 3 didn't have cavities. Emily has a referral to an oral surgeon to have two teeth pulled that are way up above and not coming in. (I knew about this, but the oral surgeon we visited before didn't impress me so we never had it taken care of.)


Karate testing went well. I guess we'll see tomorrow whether or not we are on the re-test list. I think we all did fine though. Promotion ceremony will be Friday night.

I ended up skipping the soccer board meeting and Bob took David (and the two youngest) to the

soccer banquet. And everything fit into the week just fine.



I liked the Leader Dog school field trip very much. What a blessing for the sight-impaired to have that option - and at no cost! If you have the chance to experience that tour, take it! And if you can foster a leader dog puppy, or volunteer there, or help in any way, do it!

I've hit 22,000 in NaNoWriMo and that finally puts me on schedule. I've been running behind since the second day!


11/13 Sunday - Bob work on barn roof, B&B (me and Em)
Monday - Work 5, Lessons, Karate Break-a-thon, Write-in
Tuesday - Work 5, Lessons, Movie night out?
Wednesday - Work 5, Lessons, Church, Robotics (D)
Thursday - Work 5, Lessons, Writing class, Karate
Friday - WORK 5?, Co-op, Karate Belt Promotion
Saturday - Women's Project Day (like a scrapping day, but I will write)
Sunday - Church, Improv (D)

This is a fairly normal week - busy but manageable. Maybe I can pick up some extra hours even. And the week of Thanksgiving should be VERY low-key - CAN'T WAIT!

Weekly Preview and Review

A couple of you asked about Saturday's plans - tomorrow, actually. Well, I didn't have anything on the calendar except picking up the girls from their sleepover, but since I typed that I've added a few things. WORKING 3.5 hours today, David has D&T training at karate, and James was invited to a birthday party. And we always clean house on Saturdays too. But thank the Lord, NO SOCCER!

Trick-or-treating was nice. We had a bunch of friends come over and join us.

David had robotics on Wednesday but they haven't actually started the preparation for competition yet.

I've gotten off to a slow start in NaNoWriMo. I wrote my goal the first day, the second day only half, and the next day nothing at all. Haven't written yet today, but I still may.

11/6 Sunday - Church?, Write-in
Monday - Work 5, Lessons, Karate, AYSO Board meeting
Tuesday - Work 5, Lessons, Field Trip to Leader Dog School
Wednesday - Work 5, Lessons, Dentist (D,J) Church
Thursday - Work 5, Lessons, Karate, David's Soccer Banquet
Friday - WORK 5?, Dentist (E,S), Karate Testing, Party (S)
Saturday - Pick S up, Book Club (yes, already!)
Sunday - Church, B&B (L,E)

Oh my gosh - a busy week! And NaNo too? ACK! And why did I schedule the dental appointments this week? Bad bad Lisa.

Well, sometimes things have to go and it may be the Board meeting. That's really the only thing that CAN go. And maybe I won't work extra hours IF they are offered. Well, and I can give the kids an easier week in lessons since THEY are writing well! Oh, and we COULD skip church Wednesday night. We shall see.

I am taking Emily to a nearby B&B - just her and I, on Sunday night. I saw a good deal on Living Social and snapped it up with the idea of Bob and I going away overnight. But he doesn't sleep well anywhere, so he didn't think that would be too restful, so instead Emily and I are going to have a little writer's retreat/mama-daughter time.

Karate testing is Friday night and of course we need to PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE. We may attend extra classes.

We are going to the leader dog school for a field trip - terrible terrible timing for that, but I've wanted to take the kids there FOREVER. So, shoehorn that puppy into the schedule!

David's fall awards banquet is Thursday night. You might see might surreptitiously writing under the table. It's a LONG LONG BORING night, but he gets his varsity award and that's a worthwhile event to attend.

Hopefully I will get a LOT of writing done this weekend!