Suzy Wagner Reporting

June Flood

The flood this afternoon was quite impressive. I've NEVER seen this much water around here, and we've lived here almost fifteen years. There was water OVER the road to the north (top right pic) and our poor neighbor's down the street had water pooling on their lot and running into their garage and I assume into their basement (top left pic - that's all water in their driveway and over their yard - hard to tell). The large middle pic is our kitty-corner neighbor's back yard. The rest of the pix are our own yard or the view from it.

Wow! It rained all day, something like 4.25 inches!

Flood!

So, it rained and rained! Not quite for forty days and nights, but enough to flood the ditches and the yard. The temps were warm and the kids begged to put on swimsuits and play in the water. So, I agreed. They had a blast and the two neighbor girls joined in.

Sunny Soccer, Rainy Relocation, Friday Fun

So, I guess really it's my bedtime that hasn't succumbed to my wish to reset my body clock. However, every day this week, I woke up by 8 all on my own. Even if my bedtime was 2am. Lovely. So, I had day after day of 6 hour sleeps.

Friday night was worse. Went to bed earlier (although not early!) and could not FALL ASLEEP for an hour or more. Then woke up at 5 am. Went back to sleep and woke up when the phone rang at 7. (David needing to be picked up.) Tried, but couldn't go back to sleep. So, less than 5 hours of sleep on Friday night.

I'm dragging a bit today. lol

Friday we skipped our lessons in favor of going to some yard sales. Except for David, who stayed home to do his work, so he could do his Friday night activity. I had a friend over with her children. We were going to watch Robin Hood (BBC, Season 3) online but my internet connection was wonky and we couldn't get it to play right. So we chatted and played around online as much as we could. Fun! I don't have people over very much.

David went to a youth lock-in Friday night that was organized by the Wesleyan district. They had a worship and teaching time and then sports all night, I guess. I haven't had a lot of time to talk to him about it, although he said it was fun!

Saturday's soccer games were at 10:30 and 12:00, so at least I didn't have to get to the fields early. The weather was sunny, warm and windy.

Suzy played first. The opposing team had only 5 players, so played short-sided against our 6. I would have only played 5, but I have 9 players on my team and 3 had to sit out every quarter as it was. We still lost, even though the other team was short a player! Ack! The five that showed up must have been their most dedicated!

James' team, however, WON 4-2! He played very well - energetic, skillful, on top of it. He didn't score a goal, but did take a couple shots. I was really pleased and enjoyed watching.

Stopped by the grocery store on the way home. As soon as we got the groceries unloaded, it started to rain. And rain! And blow! Wow, it was quite a storm for a few minutes! A lot of people lost power. We didn't, but we did lose our internet/phone service for about 22 hours.

Our book club meeting had to be relocated because our hostess had lost power, so a flurry of phone calls got that all rearranged and we were off to discuss Daniel Deronda - one of our most lively and thoughtful discussions! Great food, too! Then we watched the movie, which is a LOT different from the book in some significant ways.

Church today was held in the gym/Nash Center, because our sanctuary is being remodeled after some water damage. (Not from this storm.)

OH! The woman in charge of Sunday School asked me today if I wanted a break from teaching for the summer. Oh definitely! Then she said, the last Sunday for SS will be May 10! YAY! Just 2 more weeks!

It is sunny now, but it looks like more rain is coming.

Weekly Preview - A pretty straightforward week - lessons, writing (editing) and soccer, EXCEPT for the new X-men movie which I have been awaiting for months!
Monday - Lessons, Writing
Tuesday - Lessons, Writing, 2 Soccer Games
Wednesday - Lessons, Writing
Thursday - Lessons, Writing, 1 Soccer Game, 1 Practice, Going to see Wolverine at the midnight show
Friday - Homeschool Park Day (Maybe something fun in the evening? Or sleeping? lol)
Saturday - 2 Soccer Games (Maybe something fun?!)
Sunday - Sunday School, Church, Youth Group

Drippy Lazy Saturday

It's 11:30 on Saturday morning and I am still in my pajamas. Comfy cozy robe..... Don't wanna take you off!

Rain is dripping outside and it's COLD! Bob is walking to the post office to get the mail, and I think he took the youngest 3 kids with him. I am amazed they all wanted to go for a walk in the rain!

Chores need to be done. Each child has weekly jobs that need to be done by Saturday if they want pay for them, they also have Saturday jobs that are just part of the routine. Of course, anyone who has kids (and hopefully some of you who do not) realizes that kids don't usually just do their chores - they need to be "encouraged". So, shortly I will need to provide some encouragement.

David is not feeling well today - sore throat mostly.

James got to play at a friend's house Friday afternoon - had a great time! They played cowboys mostly, from the reports I received.

Bob took James to the pet store and they got the replacement newt for the one that died a few weeks back. He has to have it at co-op on Friday for his oral report. As long as it lives until Friday, I'll be glad!

My co-NaNo'ing friend Sarah is hosting a Write-In today, so after lunch, I'm headed over there for a few hours to write, talk, write, talk, snack, you get the picture. Let me see, I believe 7 people I know personally in this area are doing NaNoWriMo this year! YAY! And my good friend Jen in GA is doing it too - and in fact is nearly done, with 49,000 words already! WOW, JEN, you amaze me!

Ok, the post office crew has returned, so it's time to pour on the speed for a couple of hours!

Finished Mansfield Park & Rain Rain Rain

I've posted my daybook at Cornerstone blog. I've been posting there quite a bit actually.

I finished reading Mansfield Park (Austen) yesterday - took me a while, but I liked it better than Emma or Persuasion. Also watched the last half of the 1999 film adaptation on youtube last night. Wow, that movie was a LOT different from the book. It's not the differences in events or the missing parts that bothers me so much in film adaptations; it's when the filmmakers change the characters' motivations or their inherent qualities. For instance, Fanny Price, the heroine of Mansfield Park, is quite a shy, quiet, morally upright 18-year-old girl in Jane Austen's book. In the film, she was bubbly, defiant, adventurous, and appeared far older than 18. This may make for more interesting or more modern film, but is not an accurate representation of the character. Ah well.

It rained here for 3 days straight. The basement flooded yesterday and we used the sump pump to drain it. The yard flooded as well, and the storm drain on the corner, which hasn't worked right since the village DPW worked on it several years ago. It's all better today and the rain has ended, though there is no sun just yet.

I need to let one of the kids get on the computer to do typing, so I'll stop.