Weekly Preview and Review

Saturday - James' Gym & Swim party
Sunday - Nutcracker Ballet with Suzy (shopping with Suzy)
Monday - WORK 5 hrs, Christmas School, SOF Meeting & Soccer Meeting (at the same time!)
Tuesday - WORK, XMAS School
Wednesday - WORK, XMAS School
Thursday - WORK, XMAS School
Friday - WORK, Gingerbread House Day, Babysitting Fundraiser
Saturday - Christmas Ladies "thing" w/Em and Suzy, Book Club
Sunday - Visit a church?

Sleeping in on Sundays - I just love it! Two weeks in a row now, we've done that. Argh - kind of at odds with our desire to find a church, isn't it? Then I spoke to a friend whose church meets Saturday night. Maybe that's what we should look for?

James turned 11 this week. He's just growing up so fast! His actual birthday on Wednesday was celebrated with family gifts, his choice of meals (pizza, and Hamburger Helper - yes, really), and cake and ice cream. On Saturday I took James and 4 of his friends to the local community center to play basketball and swim. That was fun (and low stress for me!).

David was sick this week; he slept most of the day on Thursday. He's feeling better but still congested. He got to spend the night at a friend's house Friday to celebrate that friend's birthday.

Co-op is over for 2010 but will continue with 7 more session in 2011 (Jan-April). We keep the same classes all year, so nothing will change regarding the schedule. We are enjoying it; the kids love most of their classes.

Tried to take Suzy to the Nutcracker ballet today. I'd bought tickets through Seize the Deal, which is like Groupon (a website that secures a local 'deal of the day'). I got 2 tickets for the price of 1 several weeks ago. Printed out the voucher and took it to the theater today and was told (along with a large number of other folks) that the organization that runs the theater had sold the tickets but apparently did not communicate that to the theater itself, who then of course ALSO sold the tickets. Double-booked. And SOLD OUT. So, we were out of luck. We were shocked but then just sort of shrugged our shoulders, thinking we'll get our money back. They offered us Holiday Pops tickets - not quite a replacement to my thinking. One woman was standing there with a huge bouquet of flowers along with her voucher. Her daughter was in the performance. She was out of luck too, unless they found her a seat. She had her mom with her to see her granddaughter dance. Another woman was so angry that she was threatening to call the media. The people who worked there were rather nonplussed by the whole thing and started a list, taking our names. We'll see how this plays out.

But Suzy and I had a nice afternoon shopping for Christmas gifts and then eating out together. She was all dressed up and I curled her hair - she felt very special. I took a pic of her at dinner but had intended to take one at the theater with the Nutcracker background. Since that was all messed up, I never got a full length picture of her.

Last week I worked 3.3 extra hours. I can work up to 5 extra hours every week until the middle of January. That gives me a total of 25 hours each week. If I can squeeze the extra hour in, I do it. That extra 20 hours a month really helps when the paycheck comes. Did you know I get paid only once a month?

I just noticed that everything hanging on my wall above my desk is crooked. Lovely. lol

OK, I am way way past my bedtime. I don't know if I can get up at 6:30 if I go to bed at 1:30. Guess we'll see, eh?

Weekly Preview and Review

Saturday - Writing and grocery shopping and chores
Sunday - Visit a church, look at cars, write
Monday - WORK 4-5 hrs, Lessons, Gymnastics, Write
Tuesday - WORK, Lessons, Write, NANOWRIMO ENDS!
Wednesday - WORK, James turns 11!, Art Class, NO lessons at the request of JPW
Thursday - WORK, Work meeting, Lessons?
Friday - WORK, Co-op, David to a friend
Saturday - James' Gym & Swim party
Sunday - Visit a church?, Nutcracker Ballet with Suzy

Scrapbooking last Saturday was a BLAST! Twelve hours with friends, yummy food, and scrapping photos.

That night, I got sick, though. The sickest I've been in about ten years. Thankfully it was only 8 hours in duration, but I was wiped out for all of Sunday, since I really didn't sleep at all during the night. Monday I was still feeling rather shaky, but I'm now back up to snuff.

Gymnastics Day was Monday. James and Suzy went and Emily opted out. I wasn't feeling up to arguing, so I left her home. She probably thinks she doesn't have to go anymore, but I'm not convinced that's a good plan.

Wednesday Bob wasn't feeling too well, but he went to work anyway. But he called and let me know that he wasn't feeling like he ought to travel to Grand Rapids for Thanksgiving. Too queasy for a long car ride and a big dinner. So, the kids and I left early and headed to my parents' house as soon as my work hours were done for the day. Roads were dry about half of the trip and then the rain started pouring. The older I get, the less I like driving in the dark and the rain does not help.

Thanksgiving was such a nice time! Mom had everything really well planned and the day was pleasant and not stressful. The cousins played well. We missed Debbie and Denise - I'm still not convinced this separation thing is the best way to handle the family holidays, though I don't have a more workable solution right now. More rain on the way home made for a white-knuckle drive.

A couple trips to the store recently made me realize I am not much of a shopper. Crowded stores and too many choices stress me out, especially with limited funding. Going to be ordering online as much as possible.Which means I really need to get to it!

My non-disclosure agreement for my work means I can't tell you a lot about what I do. That sounds awfully mysterious, doesn't it? It's really quite mundane, but the client doesn't want specific details about the project spread around. There are at least two slightly different projects I can be working on currently. Basically I have to look at search engine queries and categorize them. Thousands of them. One project is more about the query terms and the other project is more about the results. So there you have it. Or not, as the case may be. LOL

I've been writing a lot and I am about 2000 words from the 50,000! David is less than 20% from the end. I am sure we will both finish. The other kids have all met their goals.

File cabinets - yes, I have two; actually three if you count the lateral file cabinet. They are filled with books and folders and folders and folders of stuff I've saved through the years from teaching. I have come to realize I almost never take anything OUT of a folder and use it once I put it in. And 20 years ago when I started "foldering", there was no internet. Now I usually just google when I want a worksheet or a picture or an activity. So, I'm sorting slowly through my file cabinets - tossing some things (old weekly readers?? lol), using some papers for scrap paper for the kids, making a pile that I think others might find useful, and keeping only a little of it. I am hoping to get down to just one of the file cabinets, mainly for books. If I can get everything in the lateral file cabinet, I'd just be thrilled.

Emily and I both need Regency gowns for the ball in March. And yes, I am considering sewing them. ACK. Such a savings! I don't even have a sewing machine anymore, though. So, I'm looking at sales and craigslist. I need one that can sew denim for another project I've been wanting to do. And David's outfit is going to be even more challenging! Think Mr. Darcy mixed with Phileas Fogg and add a dash of Sherlock Holmes.

OK, clicking "publish" because I am bored with posting. lol

Weekly Preview and RECAP

Saturday - Spent the day at home (car-less), then went out to do a bit of shopping when Bob got home
Sunday - Church, then Lake Huron with some friends
Monday - WORK (5 hrs daily), Soccer (D), Homeschool Mtg (L)
Tuesday - WORK 5, Library program, Soccer conditioning (E,J,S), Coach Mtg (L)
Wednesday - WORK 5, AYSO Board Mtg (L)
Thursday - WORK 5, Youth Event (D,E), Soccer? (D)
Friday - WORK 5, Soccer (D)
Saturday - Soccer? (D)

Last week was a BREEZE compared to this coming week. We have commitments EVERY night of the week. Some nights there are two.

We have only one operable vehicle. Bob's van is having transmission issues. Once he evaluates it, we will know if it is fixable or if we are moving on. Seeing as how we bought that van for $900 a couple (three?) years ago, I think we've got our money's worth.

I have the soccer teams all organized and rosters printed for all the coaches, collated with their player registration forms. I have a coach list all nicely organized. I've processed a few late registrations and I am sure there will be more. AND I've ordered all 395 uniforms. I got to pick all the colors - that was the fun part. Now I get a little break, of sorts, at least until the uniforms arrive. Imagine my living room filled with boxes containing 400 jerseys, 331 shorts, and 662 socks.

I am caught up on both book club books - all the way through September - YAY! I've actually been reading for fun! LOVED the new Elizabeth Berg. (Mom - you might really like it!)

What haven't I been doing? Have NOT been exercising. Have NOT been counting calories. Have NOT been lesson planning. Have NOT been going to bed on time.

Next week, I will need to get up rather early each day in order to get more work done in the AM. I committed to an extra hour each day, so I need to fit in 5 hours of work. I also MUST go running three times.

David had his first soccer practice Friday night. He will practice Monday and Friday nights all through August, with optional practices on Saturday morning. His first game is August 27th. His team is a travel team.

Emily will also be on a travel team through AYSO and her practices begin August 17th. She will also practice twice a week until games begin, which is after Labor Day. Her practices are not in Dryden any more, since she is on a team that combines girls from three towns.

Have not heard from James and Suzy's coaches yet but their schedules will likely be similar to Emily's, except they are both on Dryden teams.

Trying to think of something to say that ISN'T soccer-related. Having no luck. LOL

Oh here's something - if we go to the Fair, it will be Tuesday. That's the only day Bob has off, thus the only day I will have a car. Wednesday is Kids Day, so that's the day most of my friends tend to go, so I don't know if we will go on our own or not.

Weekly Preview and RECAP

Saturday - Camping
Sunday - Camping
Monday - WORK (4 hrs daily), Farewell Party
Tuesday - WORK, Soccer conditioning (S,J,E), Library Program (J,S,B)
Wednesday - WORK
Thursday - WORK, Youth Program (D,E), Running Club?, Movie in the Park
Friday - WORK
Saturday - No plans!?

Thankfully this is a rather quiet week. I am having trouble mustering energy to accomplish anything other than work. The laundry is nearly caught up from camping and most of the camping stuff is put away.

James says his ear is bothering him. Hopefully that stops.

I have a mound of soccer stuff to get done this week and co-op registration is next week, so I have some things to get ready for that. (though the bulk of that prep belongs to someone else now!)

I picked up 4 extra hours this week to make up for the 4 I did not work last week. We were only required to work 16 last week because of the holiday Monday, but that shorts my paycheck of course. I had hoped to still work 20 last week, but I just couldn't. I ended up using my friend's Mi-Fi hotspot and another friend's home internet connection to work at camping. Thank the Lord for good friends!

Hoping to do a camping post on Cornerstone, but no promises. :-)

I could say tons more but I am done with my first cup of coffee and I need to get a shower and some work done. I didn't manage a run this morning - soooo exhausted.

Stop the Merry-Go-Round!

Stop the merry-go-round!

I'm kidding.

Sort of.

But life is very very busy lately. I still make time for the fun things - garage saling (today), visiting friends (yesterday), watching DVD's (late at night usually), but other things have gone by the wayside. No more Word Twist. No reading (really!). Exercise has become so much less a priority that it worries me and I am trying harder to add it back in -takes a lot of thought to get it all fit into the day. No calorie counting (it's more work than one might imagine). Not as many DVD's despite my previous comment. And less structured school (but hopefully not less actual learning!).

Life is work and kids, kids and work, and soccer and then the occasional fun event. Like Wednesday we spent the day at Maryann's for the annual Cinco de Mayo celebration. Which was GREAT. We actually went over Tuesday night and stayed through Wed afternoon. But that meant 4 hours of work when I came home Wednesday (as well as squishing in 4 hours of work before we left on Tuesday).

Usually work gets done somewhere around 11pm. And who wants to go right to bed after work? I wanna relax! And have a snack! Like right now - off to make popcorn and watch an episode of Eli Stone. THEN bed.

Work Update

Taking a break from work, so I thought I'd spew a few words onto my blog. No guarantees of readability, however!

The hot water heater took FAR longer to install than I had imagined. Bob and David hauled it down there on Tuesday and unhooked the old one, which meant No Hot Water on Tuesday. He had to work Wed so no hot water Wed either, but I figured he'd come home and finish 'er up. Not quite. But tonight, seems like the installation has been completed. I'll find out shortly when I go try to take a shower, at the end of day 3 of no hot water.

Yes, 3 days with no shower. Bleh. I was avoiding people in the grocery store tonight. Saw one woman I haven't seen in YEARS and I turned the other way. I looked that bad. Then David told me I look the same as I always do. Well, how reassuring is THAT. lol

It was SO NICE out today. But we couldn't think of anything to DO outside. We are just inside people. Sad, right?

So, what do my days look like now that I am working about 25 hours a week?

I aim to get up at 7 or so and work for an hour before the day really gets underway. Then I get the kids moving and do some lessons with them for the morning. Anything they need me for has to be done before lunch.

Usually I have them make lunch and I've moved lunchtime up an hour to noon. Afterwards, I do another hour of work while they have quiet time from 1-2. They can read, write, or draw during this time. Mostly they choose drawing. LOL

After that, I shoo them through their chores and any leftover schoolwork (homework to all you traditional schoolers) and think about dinner and evening plans. If I know I'll be going out, I try to get another hour of work done in there somewhere.

I usually end up with half the work done before dinner and half the work still to be done afterwards. I can't work more than an hour or so in a row or my eyes start to cross.

So, that leaves me working the last hour or so in the evening. That's the part I'd like to change most. I am working when Bob is home and the kids are ready to spend some family time together. Oh well.

Every week I've worked thus far I have been able to pick up extra hours. They only allow us to work 5 hours in a day, so that's my limit. I've found it easiest to just add 15 minutes to each of the hours I work to make up the extra one. So in every case above, I'd work 75 minutes instead of an hour. Not so hard to do that way as it would be to add an extra HOUR at the end of my day. I also get 2 hours of administrative time per week - for answering and reading emails, reviewing reports, and computer maintenance. So, I can work anywhere from 22-27 hours a week.

Oh, maybe you don't know what I am doing for work - I am evaluating the effectiveness of a search engine by rating the results that turn up for queries. More challenging than it sounds, in some ways at least.

So, I'm off to shower in HOT water hopefully, send the kids to bed (they're watching a movie) and then do my last hour. Tomorrow I think the kids and I are going to a passion play.

March Half Gone, Playaway, Foot Pain

Somehow I hurt my left foot. It started hurting Saturday, but the last time I worked out was Thursday, so I don't know if or how that could be connected. I actually first noticed it after I stood up from sitting for a while. I had been wearing some shoes that I don't really like, so I tend to think it was that. HOWEVER, it still hurts now, 48 hours later. Wasn't so bad yesterday because I didn't go anywhere, but today I had to teach Spanish and I usually dress up for that.

I am hoping it isn't plantar fasciitis like my friend Dar is dealing with, and like Bob has dealt with in the past. Took some Aleve and will wrap it tomorrow to see if that helps. I am BUMMING since it is finally getting nice out!

Went to the Lapeer library today and they had Echo in the Bone on a playaway. That's a little MP3 player that just has one audiobook on it. They lend it to you like that and all you need is headphones (or something else to play it with, like car speakers). I have been waiting for this book for several months now, so I am geeked to have it. But when will I listen? LOL

Also got the new Fame DVD from the library. Hope to watch New Moon this week too since it comes out on DVD.

What else is new? Hmmm.... Bob's been working 4 days a week for several weeks now, so that's good. My job is going ok. I have to really watch the way I use my right hand on the mouse. There are a number of shortcuts I can do with my left hand, but I really have to force myself to do it since I am so much more efficient with the mouse. It's taking a toll on my wrist though.

I picked up 3 extra hours last week, and just signed up for 3 more extra hours this week too. Every little bit helps.

Bob's dad is in a nursing home now. Bob is going to go see him tomorrow for the first time there. He's nearly 90 and declining, I think.

David stayed home from Spanish today since he wasn't feeling very well. He seems better now. Several of us have fought a queasiness that thankfully didn't really develop into anything more serious. It's kind of nice to have a child old enough to stay home alone when ill. I did warn him that he was not to partake in any Ferris Bueller shenanigans. lol

I decided I am not going to teach any more essay classes this spring; I was considering scheduling two more. It's time-consuming enough just to keep up with the job. There's always time later. I do have two students that I think I will be tutoring in writing.

March is half-over! How did that happen?

Wednesday Wherefores

Wednesday already? How'd that happen?

Work is going well. After an initial sharp learning curve, I think I've settled into a good understanding of the tasks involved. I am clicking past user searches and evaluating the relevance of the results that came up. Sounds fairly simple, until you see the intricacies of it. A small percentage of my work is reviewed by another annotator and the overlap rate has to be pretty close. I picked up three extra hours this week, so that's serendipity.

Spanish class has been a little frustrating lately. It seems the expectation is that the students can learn the language in the one 80 minute class we have each week, spending the least possible amount of time on homework. Obviously many traditionally-schooled students have 5 hours of foreign language weekly and still don't manage to come out with any fluency, so I don't think too many of my students can manage it on one class per week and no effort. I guess I need to reiterate the concept of spending time OUTSIDE of class on Spanish in order to achieve mastery.

Monday night I could have gone to the movies with friends, but I didn't. Worked instead.

Last night read some of Wuthering Heights - nearly done. Probably could finish it tonight, although I don't know if I will make the effort. Did finish the Trigiani book last night. Pretty good.

Last Monday was the long long day where I had to drop Bob at work and pick him up. So I took advantage of dropping some materials from other libraries in my local library's drop box. The library courier takes them back to the proper libraries. I've been told it usually takes a day or two. Well, on FRIDAY, several DVD's still had not made it back to the home libraries, and therefore they were QUITE overdue by that point. I don't make a habit of keeping library materials past their due dates, so I was pretty annoyed. Saturday they were still not showing up as returned, but it was past library hours when I checked the computer. So on Monday, I was determined to call and track them down, wondering by this point if they'd been stolen from the drop box or something. However, they checked in as returned on Monday morning - A WEEK LATE. Argh. So now I have huge fines at one library where I had 3 DVDs out. I need to go beg mercy from them. I could have returned them myself on Tuesday or Wednesday and owed less money. Plus one of my children has a terrible habit of keeping books under the bed or in piles around the room and has had a number of items out late recently, racking up some fines. So I am taking a moratorium from library materials for a little bit. We still have lots to read around the house, and the kids will just have to deal with no movies out for a while. I don't really have TIME to watch anything right now anyway.

Wanted to run yesterday, but I had a meeting that went for about 4 hours instead of the two I'd imagined. So since something had to give, it was running. The weather was gorgeous and I was actually REALLY looking forward to running at a path in Lapeer. Ah well, I will go running in a little while today. It's overcast but it's 50 degrees!

A Little Free Time - finally....

Well, there is no work for me to do right now, despite me sitting down to do it. The client needs to upload some more for us. So, while I am waiting, a quick blog entry can fill the time.

My cable was out this morning, so no internet or phone. Therefore I could not work then either. So far today, I've managed 40 minutes of work between the cable outage and the no-work problem.

I took Emily out for her 13th birthday today - we had lunch at the Chinese buffet and then went to the thrift store and tried on clothes. She got 3 shirts, a pair of leggings, and a skirt and I got a shirt. Then we stocked up on groceries at Walmart. As a new teenager, we gave Emily permission to wear one item of makeup outside the house. She chose lipstick, so we bought her one of those and some hair stuff.

A new battery got my van going again, so I have wheels.

I have not managed to work out lately. I want to, but I just haven't made it a priority. Can't WAIT for warm weather so I can just go running in the AM's again.

All this working is quite stressful, to be honest. I can do it, but it's going to require a bit more restructuring than I had imagined. Hopefully the kids all step up to the plate and help out, or they'll be in school. The job is a necessity. When I worked before, Bob was home all the time. Now he's working 4 days a week too. Thankfully I can set my own hours.

Homemade pizza is being created now (not by me, you notice!) and soon we will have some gifts to open and cake and ice cream.

Bob is working at the homeless shelter tonight and I think the girls are going along with him.

I finished reading Remarkable Creatures and started Wuthering Heights.

I'm sure there's more I could say, but I better go do some other stuff so I can work later.

Sunday night - change in plans

Oh crud! I meant to work out today and am just now thinking of it!

I didn't end up going to Grand Rapids because my van is not in working order. So, I missed out on the fun time my sister Janet had planned for us. And Emily was sorely disappointed at not hanging out with her grandma. But there's always another time, right?

Bob thinks the van needs a new battery which we SHOULD be able to buy tomorrow. In the meantime, I have to drive him to work tomorrow and kill 2-1/2 hours waiting for my class to start. Hours that I should be at home working. I could drive back home and do that, and I still might, but since my class and his store are in the same town, it seems pointless.

My nails are no longer painted. Too much work!

Made brownies again tonight and they didn't turn out right. Still yummy though.

Since I have to drive Bob to work, I am planning to get up early and work at least one hour, preferably two before we have to leave. Then I'll only have two hours more to work when I get home at about 7:15pm. Looooong day for my first real day on the job.

Book club was awesome as usual. I always say it was the BEST meeting EVER. And it was! I made quiche and it was yummy. And the discussion was lively and insightful. We rollicked through the movie as always.

So, off for a shower and a few chapters of my book - Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier. Then early to bed. I'm a working girl now.....

Better Score, Broken Player, Bob's Hours

Quick post, then off to bed. Yeah, it's late.

See Cornerstone for the Winter Break Highlights for Tuesday.

After sledding today, the car wouldn't start. Just clicked repeatedly. Called Bob, he said get someone to jump it. That worked! I was amazed as I really didn't think that was the problem. So, hopefully all will be well with the van.

Got the taxes e-filed today. Finally. I don't know why I put it off so long, when we get money back! I just hate dealing with numbers.

My job training went better today. Attended the first live meeting session online this morning for some more training and then took another "test" tonight. Did much better than yesterday's. And I felt better today when I found out my poor score from Monday was still better than the average score. I think I will like the job.

Touched up my nails and cut my own hair. Like the hair, but the nails look patchy. They need to be redone. I like how they look and since I will be typing a lot, I figure it will give me something to look at. lol

Didn't Tae-bo today. Too busy and too tired. Didn't go to the Pampered Chef show either, though I wanted to.

Bob got the schedule for next week and he has FOUR days instead of three! YAY! I guess a couple people quit.

Suzy was carrying Emily's CD player up the stairs tonight and forgot the handle was broken. It fell down the staircase all the way from upstairs and busted apart. David to the rescue! He fit it all back together and duct taped it, so that it works. Well, the CD player works anyway. The cassette deck door broke off and was unsalvageable.

Made chicken potpie (Bisquick crust) tonight and it ALL vanished. LOL Also made blueberry crisp with the last of the blueberries from summer. It wasn't as well-received. What will I make tomorrow????

I don't have to go anywhere at all on Wednesday or Thursday, though I imagine I'll need to go at least to the store and library at some point before co-op on Friday.

OK, that wasn't as short as I had predicted, but now I am going to bed. Morning comes early.

Interview report

OK, now that the interview is over, I can breathe. I was really nervous beforehand! I think the interview went well and once I was talking to the interviewer, I relaxed and was able to focus easily on the questions. He complimented me on my cover letter even. :-)

The company provides "linguistic technology services" and I would be working on evaluating how well a certain search engine works. It would be 20 hours a week (M-F) and it's work-at-home via internet. Please pray this works if it's God's plan!

They have more interviews today and Monday, but they want to start (paid) training on the 22nd, so I should hear either way sometime next week. He said they won't leave me hanging. I told him I appreciate that!

I left the kids at co-op under the care of a friend while I came home for the interview and she brought them home for me. (Thank you, Sherri!) She even took James to his science club, even though her OWN son is missing it due to illness.

Now..... to finish the 08-09 SOF yearbook on lulu.com and get it ordered. Then what? A quiet night at home? Do I want to take the kids sledding? Do they even want to go? Bob won't be home til after 7. I don't even have a good movie to watch; can you believe it? Oh, and I have to work out either tonight or sometime tomorrow.

Weekly Preview

Sunday - Install Dryer, Watch Emma
Monday - Lessons, Spanish
Tuesday - Lessons, Keepers (E,S)
Wednesday - Lessons, Art (E,J), Essay Workshop (L,D)
Thursday - Lessons
Friday - Lessons
Saturday - Something together as a family!
Sunday - Church, Baby Shower, the last Emma

Oh, look! A week with Lessons every day! I am adding teaching the Essay Writing Workshop this week. I am also hoping to schedule another one.

Bob works three days this week - 2 eight hour days and 1 six hour day. Yep, that's ANOTHER cut of hours. At least he only drives in 3 days. This week, he is also volunteering at the homeless shelter in the middle of the night, so he'll be running on caffeine all week.

I sent in my resume to be considered for teaching in an English immersion school in Abu Dhabi. What do you think of that? LOL If we're gonna move, we may as well really MOVE, don't ya think?

I've also started writing web content articles for pay. It pays peanuts really, but it's real money for writing.

Workouts. Hmmm.... I only managed two Tae-bo workouts last week, one 30 min & one 60 min. But the scale has me almost back down to my lowest weight. Another couple pounds and I'll be there. I did fine through Christmas. It was AFTER Christmas that I fell off the wagon. Sigh. And not having hot water and a dryer really made it challenging. Who wants to get all sweaty if you can't have a nice hot shower after? Especially when it's 64 inside?

But this week, I've already done one Tae-bo (30 min) and it should be warmer this week, so I think I can run outside.

We now have a dryer that works. YAY! And the timer works too, which is a change for the better. Thank the Lord that my husband knows how to install this sort of thing!

Kids are getting restless so I better go teach them the new hymn for this month. I can hardly believe January has gone and February is here!

Um, blogging every day? CAN'T DO IT! LOL It left me no time to go read and comment on other people's blogs. Hoping to catch up on that this week.

Weekly Preview

Still having a very difficult time working on the online scoring I am (supposed to be) doing. I am mostly NOT doing it. There's still a few days left in this scoring period for me to try to prove myself. But this may be the end of my involvement with that project. Not only is the scoring itself more challenging to master than I imagined it would be, it's also very difficult for me to arrange time to work on it without distraction. It requires TOTAL concentration. Needless to say, that's very hard to find around here.

Finished the taxes last week, so that looming task is no longer weighing on me. I have to finish reading Daniel Deronda. About 28 more chapters to go! Can't wait to see the movie too, since I have heard so many great reports about it.

Went to see 17 Again at midnight Friday (Sat. really) night with Debbie and Darlene. SO FUN! We laughed all the way through. I didn't really expect it to be so full of laughs and charming moments. Darlene was the one that mentioned she wanted to see it, and I am usually up for a good night out. It's your typical "if I had my life to live over again" theme, but done humorously and, as is usual with such movies, it had a good message. I'm sure I'll watch it again.

Bob and the kids have been edging the sidewalks and those look good. As soon as the weather is reliably warmer, we will start painting the exterior of the house again. It needs its second coat.

This coming week has 5 days of lessons, 3 soccer games, 1 soccer practice, 2 meetings, 1 book club, and as much work as I can stuff in.

Sunday - Sunday School, Church service, Raingutter Regatta and Carnival
Monday - Lessons, Work, IEW meeting?
Tuesday - Lessons, Work, Soccer Practice (S), Last Keepers Meeting (E/S), Soccer Game (J)
Wednesday - Lessons, Work,
Thursday - Lessons, Work, Soccer Games (J/S)
Friday - Lessons, Work, Youth Lock-in (D)
Saturday - Soccer games (S/J), Book Club (Daniel Deronda)

Ramblings of a Cold and Gloomy Tuesday

Tuesday already!? How did THAT happen?

Yesterday we took an extra day for Easter vacation, so I could do the taxes and the lesson plans. (Yeah, you know, the public schools had the day off too.)

Success on the taxes! E-filed. No problems. Money coming back. S'all good.

Success on the lesson plans too. All complete through the end of April. David's were already done, but I had three weeks of plans for the others to complete.

Worked an hour and a half on scoring tests yesterday. (Eleven hours between Sat/Sun!) Today I got up early and worked for an hour on that before anyone else got up. Worked another hour and a half after lunch and hoping to stuff another 30-45 minutes in before dinner. (But I have to stop blogging to do it! lol)

Watched the dumbest movie last night - Duplex, with Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore. Never heard of it before and it must be fairly recent. Stupid movie. But I was doing other stuff while I watched it, such as trying on ALL of my clothes. Culled 2 paper sacks worth of clothing, mostly too big! yay! Have a medium size stack I am still considering what to do with - mainly stuff I like, but size is not QUITE right, or Size is right but I don't really like. Will deal with that tonight as well as pick the elastic waistband out of a sweatshirt that I adore otherwise. Going to watch Yes Man tonight.

Need to read seven or so chapters of Daniel Deronda tonight to stay on schedule. Book club members have been less than happy about this book choice. Several have just decided flat out they aren't reading it. But I'm enjoying it - truly - and my co-leader Darlene is farther along than I am and said that she can't wait to find out what happens next. And I'm told by many that the movie is wonderful!

Went to a couple libraries yesterday and the grocery store. Have been buying clearanced flowers at the grocery store lately. They make me happy. Yes, the ones in the picture are the same kind I got recently. (Although that's not my pic.)

On my 3rd cup of coffee for the day. Had about 5 hours of sleep last night. Should get more tonight. Don't wanna get sick like most of the other people living here.

The weather sucks, to be totally honest. I cancelled my soccer practice for this evening since it's rainy and in the low 40's. Isn't this MID-APRIL? James' coach cancelled his practice as well. I wouldn't have sent James anyway, since he still isn't 100% after his week-long illness - coughing mostly.

Chess Club was cancelled for today too, so we ended up with a commitment-free day.

The boys rearranged their room. I haven't gone up to look, but they're happy with having more space on the floor. David's bed is up high, and he's not that thrilled about that. James is using a bedframe we got on freecycle. It's elevated just a bit higher than a normal bed. Enough to store stuff underneath.

I need to buy an armoire for my clothes, so they can be downstairs instead of upstairs in the boys' room.

Ok, enough rambling and avoidance of work. Dinner will be ready soon!

A Little Update

Took the girls to their meeting tonight. Brought James along so we could get him some pants at the thrift store. He tells me he has no pants. I find that hard to believe, but .. hey, the kid needs something more than soccer shorts (his fav!) to wear. It's COLD out there!

Got James 3 pairs of pants. Also got a pair of khakis for David, an outfit for me and several shirts, a skirt for Emily's costume, and a dress for Suzy. James used his own money to buy a couple toys.

On the way home, I hit an opossum. THUNK. The kids were adjusting to that idea when.... THUNK again! Less than a minute passed and I hit a raccoon! Yikes! What in the world??

We brought the bunny into the back room today - fixed him up a little cage back there. He'd be happier in something bigger, but it's either outside - cold in a bigger cage or inside - warm in a smaller cage. That's all we've got.

I'm giving some thought to the suggestions of a divider of some kind and noise-cancelling headphones. I can't move into another room here because of the internet connection. The main problem is the noise. I can't take calls or make calls with the loudness in the background, so I do need a separate room if I am going to try to run my business the traditional way. I may try to scrape up some business on the internet instead - and be totally an online company. I haven't gone to a lot of effort promoting the business or trying to get assignments because of the work environment here. It's worse now that the weather is cooler. And I had higher hopes of Bob corralling the children upstairs. That's not going to work out. Anyway, rest assured I am thinking about the ideas! Thanks for sharing!

I haven't forgotten to share about Bob's disability hearing results. We are still waiting.

We are trying to make some decisions on health insurance. We have also been doing our assignments for Financial Peace University, although it is hard to do a "budget" when you have no real income. lol

Flowing Around Me

The work-at-home thing needs some tweaking. I cannot accomplish much of anything sitting at my computer in the living room, while life flows on around me. IT'S NOT WORKING.

Must think on this situation.

Off!

I'm. Still. Off. Work!

At least for one more week. One week at a time.

Lay-off continues!

I am off work next week as well. :-)

Under the bridge

David called after I left for work, sounding very upset.

Evidently he lost his glasses at camp.

In the water. Under the bridge.

Sigh.

I guess that adds something else for me to do tomorrow. Take David to the cheap glasses place and order him some new glasses. I don't think he has any spares since his previous pair broke, if I recall correctly. I believe he has used up his glasses insurance benefit for this year.

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In more cheerful news, I am now officially laid off! I don't know yet if I will go back to work at all when called back. My decision will come when I see how long the lay-off will be and how if any writing work is lined up. Some are predicting a long layoff; some say only a week. No one knows, probably not even the boss. I do still have two vacation days to use up too.

Tomorrow - pick up Angel Food, connect with David (someone else is bringing him back), probably order him glasses unless he found his, take him to a birthday party (which won't be much fun since he probably won't be able to see anything), Bob needs to go pick up a used stove we are buying from one of my coworkers, oversee the chores around here

Sunday - church, family time, I am going with friends to see Mamma Mia

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Man, am I TIRED. This has been a long long week. I am going to bed.